N&W 611 Restoration Thread

joe6167 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:22 am

j32885 wrote:

Hope this helps you out joe6167. The Baker Plate which I zoomed in is at the 1:34 mark. I'm sure you can make a screencap of it.

And so I did. Thanks!

tvrm349 · **Joined:** Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:07 pm **Posts:** 32

[/quote]Nice information, but I have to wonder abut the Viloco Pneumatic Whistle Operator, specifically how long it might have been applied to N&W's 600s. I say this because I have O. Winston Link's recordings, and what stands out is how some of the J's whistles were definitely "quilled." This is particularly notable in the recordings of No. 603 (memory) on the [i]Cavalier[/i] in the album "The Fading Giant," which also featured N&W 385 on the Abbington branch. No. 611 is also on that record, by the way, in a brief stop and restart sequence (for a long time, and perhaps still, this was considered the only known sound recording of 611 in regular service).[/quote]

The 600 class engines were built with both the Viloco air actuator and a whistle cord. N&W builders photos of the cab interior clearly show both.

yankingeorgia · **Joined:** Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:26 am **Posts:** 26

Quote:

The 600 class engines were built with both the Viloco air actuator and a whistle cord. N&W builders photos of the cab interior clearly show both.

Thank you.

That explains why the N&WHS Archive diagram labeled "Application of Viloco Pneumatic Whistle Operator to Hancock Whistle, Loco Class J" shows both the Viloco and a manual actuating lever attached to the Hancock.

And here, from the N&WHS Archives is a photo of the backhead of class engine, number 600 showing whistle cords on both sides of the cab, connected to each other via the horizontal rod going across the top of the photo, and the Viloco pneumatic valve on the brake stand.

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=33701

I have the O. Winston Link collection of recordings and should have remembered that there are many examples of the whistles being quilled.

I have to laugh when I imagine some of those older hoggers refusing to use "that dadgum push button" when there was a perfectly good whistle cord for them to yank on.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:11 am

Video by fellow RyPN participant and fellow traveller Jeff Lisowski posted to YouTube while I'm still waiting to get the SD card out of the camera. (Well, he didn't have to drive the other guy home and then drive himself home last night.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT1n3u8s3ZU

We've decided that the "jerky" video action is the result of Nikon autofocus having fits deciding what to latch onto on a moving target. I was having similar problems with the autofocus on my D60, which cost me a shot or two when it wouldn't fire when I stabbed the button because the autofocus was still "thinking about it" (Like a Scotsman after being asked by a robber "Your money or your life!").

He's out chasing the ferry move to Lynchburg as I type--last reported along the "Pacer's Paradise" along Rapidan Road.

Dick_Morris · **Posted:** Mon Jun 08, 2015 5:20 pm

Washington post has posted a video article on their on-line edition. Not a bad article and the good publicity probably benefits all of us.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/lo ... video.html

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:46 pm

The 611 in the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr- ... untryside/

yankingeorgia · **Joined:** Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:26 am **Posts:** 26

J3a-614 wrote:

The 611 in the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr- ... untryside/

And, of course, the very first entry in the comments section is from some namby-pamby bemoaning the pollution.

No doubt, he/she/it will be calling for Congressional hearings into the banning of any future steam excursions.

That's to be expected of readers of the Washington Compost, I guess.

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

hehe, of course they have to complain...

of course they drove their pretty car to work to make that...

after reading they put a hancock on, I'll still just post this as informational, if they got it from there or what...

Quote:

We at the Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum have in our collection a replica J-class whistle that belonged to Mr. Lee Alley and his famous Ghost Train Whistle Machine. Would it be a suitable stand in for the 611? If interested, have someone contact me.

Gary P. Price

heck, just for jollies sometime, throw a hooter on the engine sometime...

soups · **Joined:** Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:26 am **Posts:** 57

joe6167 wrote:

I've noticed that 611 appears to have the Pilliod-Baker plates on the her valve gear frames. Does anyone have a close-up? I've always wanted to see one as the ones on 6167 fell off many decades ago.

Here you go

whodom · **Posted:** Tue Jun 09, 2015 11:31 am

soups wrote:

joe6167 wrote:

I've noticed that 611 appears to have the Pilliod-Baker plates on the her valve gear frames. Does anyone have a close-up? I've always wanted to see one as the ones on 6167 fell off many decades ago.

Here you go

As pristine as that looks, I'll bet it's a reproduction. You 6167 guys should find out; it may be cheap to get a couple more made.

airforcerail · **Posted:** Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:39 pm

whodom wrote:

As pristine as that looks, I'll bet it's a reproduction. You 6167 guys should find out; it may be cheap to get a couple more made.

It is a reproduction, I will try to find out who we had do them and let you know.

soups · **Joined:** Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:26 am **Posts:** 57

whodom wrote:

soups wrote:

joe6167 wrote:

I've noticed that 611 appears to have the Pilliod-Baker plates on the her valve gear frames. Does anyone have a close-up? I've always wanted to see one as the ones on 6167 fell off many decades ago.

Here you go

As pristine as that looks, I'll bet it's a reproduction. You 6167 guys should find out; it may be cheap to get a couple more made.

Scott Lindsay had them reproduced as a 'gift' to the locomotive

railfan261 · **Joined:** Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:30 pm **Posts:** 226

Yes! I finally was able to budget a small donation to FireUp611. I guess it is only apt I acted now, since she is back on the rails. :-)

I am glad to see her bullet nose is as pristine as ever and her "stack talk" and whistle just like it was back in the 1980s and 1990s. You can't keep a good locomotive down. :-)

Daydream: 611 and Milw 261 double heading along the Mississippi River (hey, if 4449 could roam there...) I say this because I donated a little to the 261 today too. :-) Keep 'em rolling, folks!

southern154 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:54 pm **Posts:** 320

Just saw a tweet that 611 handled a freight back to Spencer on yesterday's ferry move. Also is VMT's tool car still be repaired in spencer?

TimReynolds · **Joined:** Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:11 pm **Posts:** 287

Now that's how you do it 21 cars and no dismal...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2HfdFIR3j0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0xaD_Nq0w

whistle sounds much more like the '82 to '94 one...