Norfolk & Western 611: The Shenandoah Steam Spectacle (4K)

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After a long hiatus of hauling trips on the mainline, the Queen of Steam has returned to her home state of Virginia to pull autumn excursions through the scenic Shenandoah Valley. Norfolk & Western 611, a J Class 4-8-4 “Northern” built by the N&W’s Roanoke Shops in 1950, had been moved to Goshen, Virginia along the Buckingham Branch Railroad, a Class III short line railroad operating on state-owned rails with connections to Clifton Forge and Richmond. It is this partnership between the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the Buckingham Branch Railroad that paved the way for a series of 30 excursions through the Shenandoah Valley, dubbed the “Shenandoah Valley Limited”.
Operating over the original former Chesapeake & Ohio mainline, these half day excursions departed from Goshen’s newly created Victoria Station and head east through the vibrant autumn mountains of Shenandoah through Craigsville, climbing grades upwards of 2% over the crest at North Mountain, before dropping down into Swoope before beginning the climb once more into Staunton, where the train will pause for a few minutes before diesel locomotives pull the excursion back to Goshen. This video showcases the most vibrant weekends of excursions through the autumn foliage, proving that she can feel right at home on the former C&O mainline, right in her home state once again. These are the first autumn excursions on a mainline that the 611 has pulled since 1994, almost 29 years ago.
Now, please enjoy this exciting spectacle of steam brought to you by Blue Comet Productions!
This video was filmed in Autumn of 2023.

[@PRL2204]

Grace, power, elegance, and ingenuity all in one. Man I love this thing. AMAZING cinematography. I will forever be kicking myself that I never made the trip down to see this myself.

[@emjay5577]

Who can't help but love a classic American steam locomotive traveling through the beautiful autumn foilage of the Amercian countryside. Thank you for this well-done video.

[@CullenTabaczynski]

Blown away by this one! What a spectacle indeed. The shot at 2:40 is iconic👌

[@southerncrescentproductions]

I was a passenger on the Shenandoah Valley Limited!! It was my first ever mainline steam excursion. After experiencing that, I just have to say that passenger trains in America will never be the same

[@davidmcdougall7040]

Best scenes I’ve seen with 611 in many years! Hell of a job!

[@sharkyfish3492]

Man, she looks so so good on the open rails

[@aaronsmitterberg847]

Amazing video Chad! Your perspective of 611 is so unique. Thank you for all the hard work you put into these videos. 👏

[@dantemarino3514]

Keep them rolling every minute. Love the watch.

[@bensipiorski6645]

Awesome video. It’s great to see the 611 stretch her legs and run a bit faster than probably on the Strasburg Railroad.

[@imagreatbigman]

As a Canadian railfan, I love this old girl. Hopefully one day I get to see her in person and go for a ride.

[@BlueCometProductions]

I’m not Canadian 😅

[@STHSIndustries2K6]

He's American.

[@sasa_the-VolkswagenBeetle]

@@BlueCometProductions 611 is fr my fav loco ever

[@FuckGoogle502]

She's amazing. I grew up right next to Roanoke with my Dad (who was foreman of the NS wreck crew at the time) telling me all sorts of stories about her, then she was placed in our local transportation museum for a few years, where I got to go climb onboard and really look her over. She's a wonderful machine, especially considering her age. That was before her most recent refit. If they do it again, I'm volunteering. I actually know what I'm doing with metal now lol

[@sasa_the-VolkswagenBeetle]

@@FuckGoogle502 im Serbian and hell i love this Locomotive

[@SimplyTakuma]

Its impress me everytime that the N&W Class J Nr.611 came out of a time, where X-Planes with Rocket Engines reaching Mach 3, Interstate Highways for cars and trucks are build, Jet Planes are doing commercials tasks ect.

[@user-oj8jz6db4c]

Spectacular

[@762Media42]

Absolutely Superb!

[@TrainMedia00]

I am impressed of your camera edits and stuff that you did. This video is 100℅ more Beautiful and 61 is the perfect in it ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥👍🚂

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Wow what an awesome video once again and enjoyed watching. Have a nice rest of your Thursday evening.(Steve)

[@DynamoProductions-trains]

Holy smokes, this is excellent

[@BlueCometProductions]

Glad you think so!

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@BlueCometProductions where is the 611 today? Is she back at her home shed?

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@BlueCometProductions who loves the black coal smoke coming out of the 611!

[@ScottHBrown]

Best videos out of all I've seen in the past month or so of 611. Excellent production and videography.

[@switchbladeslaydn6468]

I am blown away, what a great footage! I can just agree with the other viewers before, the work you put into it is amazing. Here in Germany we also got a few old steam engines, but the look from this legend... art on rails. Thank you a thousand times for filming and sharing, that made my evening after a long workday. Greetings from Germany.

[@jonjeremy4778]

The old steam whistle sounds haunting and beautiful

[@JamesAttwellPhotography]

Spectacular! What an amazing video! High on my bucketlist to see when I visit the States.

[@dantemarino3514]

Awesome, photography 611 N. Fork and western my favorite engine. Thank you for the video. Ciao.

[@KeystoneRailProductions]

Fantastic work, Chad! Best coverage so far!

[@smoke1longbaumgardner575]

An absolutely splendid video!

[@TranscontinentalRailfan]

Love the shots in this video!

[@srh0822sh]

Gotta love that Longbell, also amazing video ❤👍👍

[@kptrains]

Wonderful captures of 611!

[@LisbonRailProductionsandF1]

Magnificent catches of the steam locomotive 611 coming by and pass, i love it 5 stars, keep up the great work and like 280, my friend, I subscribed your channel, Greetings from Portugal to the USA.

[@kawasakiz76]

A fantastic video as always!!

[@MiddleTennesseeRailProductions]

Fantastic work as always!!!

[@guy_called_Odin]

Was on board the trip when the 611 passed the Cardinal at the top of the hill (with Charger 329 on the point at 13:34). This was a great chase.

[@tmcorbett]

10:45 wow… that’s how you work an engine like this!

[@dwkcamman611]

Great work!

[@13squier]

611 and ALC-42 Charger on the same mainline! Nice

[@FloridaRailfan]

Sweet video!

[@fabriciobengozi9650]

N&W 611 It's My Favorites Locomotives

[@Flogaowtds25]

Wow god pro 4k

[@SCL3618]

Dropped some 🔥🔥!

[@ImanRailfans-th4ef]

nice🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@firegrateproductions]

Mind = blown

[@user-vh6zt7ty3b]

Lärmschutzwand auf der Strecke 130 mit 611

[@joekmoch978]

Super video - enjoyed the shots of the foliage with 611 steaming through the colors. Doesn't the thick black smoke indicate an incorrect firing of the locomotive? It looks great, but I thought all the black smoke coming out of a steam locomotive is problematical?

[@LukeAlfordUKsteam]

Steam in the US tends to create black smoke far more than any other country's engines.

[@EZOne58]

A lot of the thick black smoke means it's not being efficient as say with lighter less smoke from what I understand. Also, the thick black smoke was supposedly put on for show and pictures

[@catreader9733]

If you are burning coal, there will be some black smoke, especially when taxing the engine during start of move, acceleration, and heavy pulling (e.g. uphill grade). Not sure about the heavier, darker smoke in this video.

[@metalheadrailfan]

"611 is massively overrated! Attracts too many foamers!" Hey, some things are "overrated" for a reason.

[@PistonRodProductions]

Good, you have avoided the firing squwad

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Cool

[@SteamPowerPA]

This is insane.

[@TrainLover-wt9ix]

So N&W 611 is the Queen of Steam, and Nickel Plate Road 765 is the ambassador of Steam. So that means, who’s the King of Steam?

[@ChargerusPrime]

That's her original whistle isn't it? The one that she was born with back in 1950? I knew that whistle was recently worm by US sugar 148 and Preston Claytor allowed that. Does 611 have her original voice back now?

[@guy_called_Odin]

No. Actually, that is a DM&IR Yellowstone Hancock, and she sounds better than she has any right to with it.

[@ChargerusPrime]

@@guy_called_Odin interesting!

[@FuckGoogle502]

@@guy_called_Odin 100% It sounds so good.

[@michaelellison]

That 611 class j new home?

[@FazwanAbizar-nn1bs]

👍👍 🇮🇩🤝🇺🇸 😊😊😊

[@jonahcollins2225]

third