The 14 Class J 4-8-4s built by the Norfolk & Western were the railroad's ultimate steam passenger locomotives, and this one, #611, was one of its last.

N&W built the 611 and sisters 612 and 613 in its Roanoke, Va. shops in 1950 -- at least a year after the Big 3 of Steam (Alco, Baldwin and Lima) had dispatched the final steamers out of their erecting halls.

The 611-613 were the last steam locomotives built for passenger service in the U.S., and remained in this service until the N&W dieselized its varnish in 1958, just two years before it dropped its fires completely.

The 611 survived the end of N&W steam in Roanoke's Wasena park, where she is shown in this 1975 photograph. She returned to life in 1982 as a part of the Norfolk Southern steam excursion program, remaining in service until the program ended in 1994.

Today, she is back in excursion service out of Roanoke after a year-long restoration at the North Carolina Transportation Museum at Spencer, N.C.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, 1975.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, June 13, 2010.
Railroad: Norfolk and Western Railroad.

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