N & W Class J 611

In Reply to: Re: Stack Talk posted by Jim Rushford, CA on March 11, 2026 at 16:16:26:

Here's another wonderful stack talk video.

The Norfolk & Western Class J 4-8-4 locomotives were produced as late as 1952 and represented the absolute zenith of steam locomotive design. Cast steel frames, roller bearings throughout, high pressure boilers, and somewhere around 5,000 HP at 100 MPH, steam locomotives were never any better. This locomotive could pull consists similar to the one in the video at 100 MPH on the straight and level "racetrack" in Northern Indiana.

In the 90s, I took my Mother on an excursion from Union Central Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio to Danville, KY and back powered by 611. The experience remains one of my most precious memories.

Here, at Christianburg Hill, 611 pulls her consist up the hill on wet rails unassisted. The engineer set the cutoff just before the limit of adhesion and let her do her work. Though she had much more power, applying much more would have caused her to spin out on the wet rails.

Enjoy.

• N & W 611 at Christianburg Hill

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