The Virginia Museum of Transportation is located at
303 Norfolk Avenue Southwest in Roanoke, VA.
It is open from Monday-Saturday 10.00am-5.00pm as well as Sunday 1.00pm-5.00pm, but is closed Easter Sunday, on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day.
The museum has two classic pieces of equipment: Norfolk & Western J Class #611 and Norfolk & Western A Class #1218. Both of these are worth a visit on their own, but the museum has lots of other interesting exhibits on railroads, as well as road transportation and aviation.
The museum began as a partnership between the Norfolk & Western Railway and the City of Roanoke in 1963. The Roanoke Museum of Transportation as it was then called occupied an old N&W freight depot at Wasena Park near the Roanoke River.
The collection displayed various transportation related artefacts including NW #611, which was donated by the N&W. It was designated the official transportation museum of the Commonwealth of Virginia by the state's General Assembly in 1983.
The Railwalk extends from the museum to the O. W. Winston Link Museum. It is named after David R. Goode, President, Chairman and CEO of the Norfolk Southern from 1992 to 2006, and his wife Susan. During Goode's tenure, Norfolk Southern donated a number of artefacts from the old Farmville line for use in the railwalk.
The walk parallels the old Norfolk & Western rail tracks. It is well signposted and provides interesting insights into Roanoke's long involvement with railroads.
The Wasena Park site was flooded out in 1985, however, damaging much of the collection, and the museum moved to its current site in downtown Roanoke in an
ex-Norfolk & Western freight station built in 1918 the following year.
The freight station and associated grounds were donated by Norfolk Southern, successor to the Norfolk & Western, and the museum re-opened in July 1986 as the Virginia Museum of Transportation. The museum building is at the western end of the David R. and Susan S. Goode Railwalk.
The Robert B. Claytor & W. Graham Claytor Jr. Pavilion houses the two largest exhibits at the museum, Norfolk & Western J Class #611 on the left of this photograph and A Class #1218 in the centre, as well as a number of other pieces of equipment. Norfolk & Western G1 #6 built in 1897 is on the centre right.
The pavilion is named in honour of Roanoke born Robert Buckner Claytor, who became President of the N&W in 1981. He pushed for N&W's merger with Southern Railway and became President of the new company, the Norfolk Southern, in 1982, although the Norfolk & Western continued to exist on paper until 1997. Robert Claytor retired in 1987, but continued to serve on Norfolk Southern's board until 1992. He died in 1993.
William Graham Claytor was Robert's brother. After a distinguished military career, he joined the Southern Railway as an officer in 1963, and became president in 1967. He retired in 1977 but returned to railroad administration in 1982, heading up Amtrak from 1982 to 1993. William G. Claytor died in 1994.
The characteristic nose of #611 shines in the sunlight in these six views. It is one of fourteen J class Northern type locomotives (4-8-4) designed and built by the Norfolk & Western Railway in Roanoke, VA, for the increasing volume of passengers during WWII.
They were the pride of the N&W, pulling varnish such as The Powhatan Arrow, The Pocahontas and The Cavalier, as well as hauling Southern Railway's Tennessean, Birmingham Special and The Pelican between Lynchburg and Bristol, VA.
Js were designed to haul passenger trains at high speed, although their 70" drivers were comparatively small for a locomotive that could reach a speed of 100 mph. As a consequence, the wheelbase was made extremely rigid, lightweight rods were used, all wheels and rods were fitted with roller bearings and the counterbalancing was very carefully set.
The first five Js, numbered #600-#604, were built between 1941 and 1942 with streamlining. They were maintained at Shaffers Crossing Roundhouse in Roanoke, VA, out of which they initially operated to Norfolk, VA, and Williamson, WV.
In 1943, the N&W decided to extend the locomotives' run west as far as Cincinnati and, as a result, six more Js were constructed (#605-#610). They were outshopped without the streamlining because of restrictions on the use of materials during the war, as well as without lightweight rods.
Initially classified as J-1, they were subsequently retro-fitted with streamlining and lightweight rods in 1944 and reclassified as J class. #611 was one of the last three of the class built by the N&W in 1950 (#611-#613). It began service on 29th May 1950, having cost $251,544.
I am not a great fan of streamlining on steam locomotives. I think this too often cloaks the inherent power of steam, and many designs are simply too "clunky" in appearance.
Still, I have to admit the beetle-browed, torpedo-nosed J class with its Tuscan Red skirting, gold trim and lettering conveys a clean, authoritative power that I cannot help admiring. The streamlining was designed in-house. Similarly, the looming, bull-nosed, streamlined jacket on Chesapeake & Ohio's
4-6-4 L1 "Yellow Belly" has my vote.
You can see CO L1 #490 on the B&O Museum Yard and Car Shop page of this website.
Above, you can access #611's cab from the old freight loading bay. The tender weighs 378,600 lbs light and has a capacity of 22,000 gallons of water and 26 tons of coal.
#611 weighs 494,000 lbs and has a combined heating surface of 7,448 sq ft, including 2,177 sq ft superheating. With a 107.7 sq ft grate and 578 sq ft firebox, it operated at a boiler pressure of 300 psi delivering 77,899 lbs tractive effort.
Life after diesels
In the late 1950s, the Norfolk & Western began investing in diesels, which were cheaper to run and maintain than steam locomotives, but the Js continued in mainline passenger service until 1958, after which they served briefly on some freight services until 1959.
In 1958 and 1959, the N&W also ran several farewell to steam excursions, with #611 pulling the last on 24th October 1959, a return trip from Roanoke, VA, to Bluefield, WV, after which it was retired. Then, through the efforts of enthusiasts, including the photographer O. Winston Link (there is a page on this website on the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, VA), the N&W were persuaded to donate #611 to the museum in 1960, where it sat for more than two decades on static display.
In 1981, the then president of the N&W, Robert B. Claytor, leased #611 from the museum and sent it to Southern Railway's Norris Yard Steam Shop in Birmingham, AL, for overhaul to join a proposed N&W steam programme. Ironically, this was during the last few months of the N&W's existence before merging with the Southern Railway to form Norfolk Southern.
The following year, #611 started twelve years of excursion services on the Norfolk Southern system, the last on 3rd December 1994, from Birmingham, AL, to Chattanooga, TN, and back. #611 then ran under steam to Roanoke and returned to the museum where, except for running cold with #1218 to Norfolk Southern's old Roanoke Shops in 2007 to celebrate the shops' 125th anniversary, it has remained on static display ever since.
When I visited in 2011, Chesapeake & Ohio Greenbrier (4-8-4) #614's running gear was being dismounted ready for its move to Clifton Forge, VA.
The locomotive was part of the "Thoroughbreds of Steam" Exhibition and was then moved over Norfolk Southern rails to Clifton Forge.
You can see more photos of #614 at Clifton Forge on the C&O Railway Heritage Center page of this website.
Although usually known as a Northern types, the C&O decided to give its
4-8-4s a different name.
The railroad's Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV, which was then known for its luxury and prestige, formed the basis for the name "Greenbrier" that was applied to them.
#614 weighs 503,500 lbs, providing 290,000 lbs on its eight 72" drivers. With a 100.3 sq ft grate, 520 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 7,800 sq ft, including 2,305 sq ft superheating, it operated at a boiler pressure of 255 psi. #614 has 27½" x 30" cylinders and delivered 68,299 lbs tractive effort.
Like most late C&O tenders, #614's is a water bottom design. It is fitted with two, three axle Buckeye Steel tender trucks, weighs 309,700 lbs light and has a capacity of 50 tons of coal and 18,200 gallons of water.
The C&O's first five 4-8-4s were built by Lima in 1935
(#600-604) and designated J-3. Two more were ordered from Lima in 1942 (#605-606) and, in 1948, the design was changed slightly and #610-614 were produced, designated
J-3a. They were one of the largest 4-8-4s built in the US, and amongst the last steam locomotives delivered.
The J-3as had roller-bearings, light weight rods and Boxpop drivers, but their service life was brief. All twelve J-3s retired in 1955, although several (including #614) were reactivated in 1956. All but #614 were then scrapped. The locomotive went into storage in Russell, KY, until 1975, when it went to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD.
In 1979, the museum traded #614 with Ross Rowland for RDG #2101. The following year, the restored locomotive hauled the Chessie Safety Express, working through 1981. It was then kept in Hagerstown, MD, until 1985 when it began a short lived experiment as an alternative to rising oil costs by burning a type of coal known as ACE 3000. It then returned to Baltimore.
In 1995, #614 went to the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad in Pennsylvania for overhaul. The following year, it moved to Hoboken, NJ, where, for the next three years, it ran a series of excursions to Port Jervis, New York, and return. It has not steamed since.
#1218 is a four-cylinder, A class, simple articulated locomotive with a 2-6-6-4 wheel arrangement.
The first, trial A #1200 was outshopped from Norfolk & Western's Roanoke shops in May 1936, introducing a new era of high speed, high power articulateds to the US. It was designed to haul fast freight trains at sustained speeds on all parts of the N&W system, and effectively pushed to the limit the railroad's operating envelope: it was almost at the maximum for track and curvature clearances, with a wheel base that was as long as feasible but still able to use existing turntables.
A distinctive feature is the A's ball jointed steam distribution pipe just above the front cylinders. These large, insulated pipes were fitted with internal spherical connections to permit lateral motion.
Above, the sleek lines, angled steam distribution pipe to the front cylinders, Baker valve gear eccentric and radius rod give the front end of the A an athletic, leaping thrust.
The large rods all carried roller bearings.
The 587 sq ft firebox sat entirely behind the 70" drivers. The boiler operated at 275 psi.
With a total heating surface of 6,639 sq ft, including 2,703 sq ft superheating, the locomotive delivered tractive effort of 104,500 lbs.
The cylinders are 24" x 30". Multiple bearing light weight crossheads were fitted.
During WWII, the first ten As regularly handled extra passenger services, and the increasing traffic convinced the N&W to build twenty-five more of the class, including #1218, which were delivered between 1943 and 1944. #1218 was built in 1943 at the cost of $163,872, emerging from N&W's Roanoke Shops on 2nd June that year. The 2nd version operated at a boiler pressure of 300 psi, and had lagging applied to the firebox sides.
After WWII, all thirty-five As were fitted with the streamlined retractable coupler used on N&W's J class locomotives, replacing the original boiler tube pilots. The sand pipes were also covered by the boiler jacket, hiding the previously exposed piping. All tenders were also modified, raising the previously round-top water cisterns to the usual N&W flat-top versions. The capacity of #1200-#1209's tenders were also increased from 26 to 30 tons of coal.
The last nine A class locomotives were built in 1949-50, the final five equipped with Timken light weight reciprocating parts.
Retired in 1959, #1218 was used by Union Carbide as a backup boiler in one of its industrial plants. In 1965, F. Nelson Blount, bought it for his Steamtown collection but then sent it to Roanoke, VA, where it went on display and eventually became the property of the city.
In 1985, Robert B. Claytor, then president of the Norfolk Southern, arranged for #1218 to be restored for the company's steam programme and, on 16th January 1987, it was fired up for the first time in nearly thirty years. It then hauled many excursions until the end of the 1991 season, when it went for overhaul. This was still in progress when Norfolk Southern cancelled its steam programme in late 1994.
As a consequence, #1218 was placed in storage, reappearing for a feature in Vanity Fair magazine with the photographer O. Winston Link in 2001 and then returning to the Virginia Museum of Transportation on 14th June 2003 where it now resides with its boiler gutted, and flue sheets and tubes removed.
#1218 is the only Norfolk & Western A class, and only surviving 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive in the world. During its excursion career, it was the most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world, with a tractive effort of 114,000 lbs.
The view above on the right shows there was not much room in the cab.
The locomotive has a 31 sq ft grate, 161 sq ft firebox, 50" drivers and 20" x 24" cylinders. The engine weighs 120,785 lbs, and the tender 116,630 lbs light with a capacity for 13.8 tons of coal and 6,000 gallons of water. With a heating surface of 1812 sq ft and operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, #6 delivered tractive effort of 29,376 lbs.
Below, the locomotive was equipped with inside admission Stephenson valve gear.
Norfolk & Western Class G1 #6 is a Consolidation (2-8-0) type locomotive, one of seven of this class built by Baldwin in 1897 as helpers on the railroad's Flat Top Mountain to Elkhorn Tunnel grade. It cost $10,810.
Originally, this locomotive was numbered #352 but, in May 1917, it was one of two sold to the Virginia Carolina Railroad (two had already been sold in 1914) and renumbered #6. When the N&W later acquired the Virginia Carolina in January 1920, it remained #6, and operated on the Clinch Valley line out of Bluefield with its twin #7.
#6 retired from active service in January 1955 and was subsequently donated to the museum. #7 is on display in Bluefield City Park, Bluefield, WV. You can see some photographs of it on the NW G-1 #7 page of this website.
Virginian SA class #4, also known as "Four Spot", is an 0-8-0 switcher. It was delivered to the VGN in 1910, one of five of this class built for the railroad between 1909 and 1910 (#1-#3 were built by Alco, #4 & #5 were built by Baldwin). It is actually the only Virginian steam locomotive to have survived.
The locomotive is 64' in length and weighs 182,300 lbs. A coal burner, #4 has a grate area of 31½ sq ft and operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi. Because of the nature of its work, its top speed was a mere 10 mph, but it could deliver a hefty tractive effort of 45,200 lbs.
The cylinders are 22" x 28", and the relatively small, 51" drivers are typical of this type of heavy switcher, thousands of which were built during the first part of the 20th Century. They operated in a wide range of settings, from Class I railroads to industrial yards.
After retiring from service in 1957, #4 was gifted to the City of Princeton, WV, where it went on static display in front of the Mercer County Court House. Unfortunately, exposure to the weather and vandalism led to quite rapid deterioration in its condition.
The tender has a capacity of 5,000 gallons of water and 10 tons of coal. It weighed 111,400 lbs fully loaded.
Following a disputed trade with the Norfolk & Western and a bout of litigation to resolve the argument, #4 finally joined the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 1967, just in time for the museum's re-dedication on 17th June.
#135 was one of twelve 3,300 hp EL-C class electric locomotives built by GE for the Virginian between 1956 and 1957 (#130-#141).
The VGN had electrified its one hundred and thirty-three mile line from Roanoke, VA, to Mullins, WV, in 1925, and these were to be the most advanced electric motive power the railroad owned.
At 69' 6" long and 348,000 lbs, they delivered 98,000 lbs tractive effort with a top speed of 65 mph, hauling coal trains over the southern part of the system, double and even triple heading with very heavy consists.
The Virginian merged with the Norfolk & Western in 1959.
The N&W saw diesels as the future of motive power, and electrification was discontinued in 1962. All twelve EL-Cs were then sold to the New York, New Haven & Hartford in 1963
Reclassified as EF-4s #300-#310 (one unit was used for spare parts for the other eleven) on the New Haven, ten of the remaining EL-Cs survived on the Penn Central as well as its successor, Conrail, where they were reclassified E-33 #4601-#4610. They were finally retired in 1981 when Conrail ended its electrified operations.
The EL-C was powered by a water-cooled ignitron rectifier, an electron cylinder filled with mercury through which an AC current was passed to produce DC pulses. The design was used as a basis for Penny's E-44 units built from 1960 to 1963. You can see PRR E-44 #4465 on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Train Shed page of this website.
The T-6 is a 1,000 hp diesel-electric switcher. It is 46' 5" long and weighs 265,000 lbs. With a 251B 6L four cylinder prime mover powering six GE 752 traction motors, it delivered 46,000 lbs continuous tractive effort at 8 mph and had a top speed of 60 mph.
Fifty-seven T-6s were produced by Alco between 1958 and 1969, forty for the Norfolk & Western in 1959. The "T" stood for Transfer, meaning it was capable of faster transition and higher sustained speeds than Alco's regular "S" series yard switchers. #10 was originally NW #40 but was renumbered when transferred to the Chesapeake Western Railway, along with two other T-6s in 1964. It was retired in 1985.
#300 is one of four RS-3s delivered to Norfolk & Western in 1955, the first diesel locomotives owned by the railroad. #300 operated on NW's Lynchburg, VA, to Durham, NC, branch.
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One thousand, two hundred and sixty-five RS-3s were produced for U.S. railroads, ninety-eight for Canada, seven for Mexico and five for Algeria. They have an Alco 244 12 cylinder 1,600 hp prime mover powering four GE 752 traction motors. Weighing 229,000 lbs and 55' 11" long, they deliver 52,500 lbs continuous tractive effort at 10 mph with a top speed of 65 mph. Although designed for switching, RS-3s sometimes hauled local freight and commuter passenger trains.
One thousand, three hundred and seventy RS-3 switchers were built by Alco between 1950 and 1956. A further one hundred and forty-six were produced by Alco's Canadian subsidiary, the Montreal Locomotive Works.
A number of RS-3s have survived. NN #109 still operates on the Northern Nevada Railway and can be rented as part of the Engine Rental Programme. You can see photos of it on the Northern Nevada Railroad Museum page of this website. You can also see WM #195 on the B&O Museum Yard and Car Shop page, RDG #467 on the Steamtown Yard page and LI #1555 on the Gold Coast Railroad Museum page.
#1135 is a six-axle diesel-electric delivered to Norfolk & Western in September 1967, one of seventy-seven built from 1965 to 1967. Ten
C-630 units were delivered to the N&W between 1966 and 1967, the only ones designed with the high short hoods that were mandated by N&W operating policy.
In addition to the N&W units, three were built for the Atlantic Coast Line, four for the Chesapeake and Ohio, eight for the Louisville & Nashville, fifteen for PRR, twelve for the Reading, fifteen for Southern Pacific and 10 ten Union Pacific. Fifty-four C-630M units were also built by Montreal Locomotive Works.
The most distinctive feature of the C-630 is its large aftercooler radiator housing above the roofline. The aftercooler radiators boosted performance when the locomotive was operating under a heavy load. Their top running speed was 70 mph and they were used by the N&W to haul freight services. In the 1970s, some were also converted into "slugs".
Four C-630s have survived: #1135 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation, RDG #5308 owned by the Reading Technical & Historical Society, UP #2901 at Arkansas Railroad Museum and another UP C-630 privately owned but stored at Arkansas Railroad Museum.
#521 is one of four hundred and sixteen GP9 diesel-electric units ordered by the N&W.
Three thousand, four hundred and forty-four GP9s were built between 1954 and 1963 for the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. US production ended in 1959, but thirteen more were built in Canada until 1963. Power was provided by an EMD 567C sixteen cylinder prime mover. The type was offered both with and without control cabs. Units without control cabs were designated GP9B, but only the Union Pacific and Pennsy took of any of these.
#521 was delivered in 1958. It was one of only twenty-one that the N&W equipped with steam generators so they could haul passenger services. The N&W GP9s were nicknamed "Redbirds" for their distinctive livery.
Several GP9s still operate on shortlines or have been preserved in museums. You can see NKP GP9 #532 on this page. NW #620 on the North Carolina Museum of Transportation page occasionally hauls passenger trains on the museum grounds, and NKP #514 is on the Steamtown NHS page.
You can also see PRR #7006 on the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum Train Shed page.
#1776 is a 3,600 hp, 205 ton EMD SD45 six axled diesel built by EMD. One thousand, two hundred and sixty were built for US railroads between 1965 and 1971, including the Santa Fe, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and N&W, which owned one hundred and fifteen.
Part of an order of twenty-five (#1765-#1789), it was delivered in February 1970. Repainted red, white and blue in May 1974 in celebration of the US
Bi-Centennial, it embarked on a tour of the fourteen states in which the N&W operated with a coal hopper and piggyback trailer in similar colours, one of many locomotives to feature Bi-Centennial themes at about this time. In November 1978, #1776 was returned to a standard N&W black livery but, before donating it to the museum in 1990, Norfolk Southern repainted the locomotive in its Bi-Centennial scheme.
The first production model SD45, GN #400 "Hustle Muscle" is on the Lake Superior Railroad Museum page of this website.
Originally #4917 when delivered from PRR's Juniata Shops in Altoona, PA, in June 1942, a general renumbering by Penn Central in June 1973 made this GG1 #4934, and it was later renumbered #4919.
#4919 has the original Brunswick Green coloured body, with the PRR standard Clarendon lettering. Prior to 1942, the lettering was Futura style.
GG1s were geared to operate at 110 mph hauling PRR's main line passenger trains between New York, Washington, DC, and Harrisburg, PA, over the six hundred and fifty-six miles of the system that had been electrified by 1938. They were also geared for lower speeds to haul freight.
The GG1 was the longest operating class of locomotive on front line service in the world, including steam and diesel: eight were still hauled daily New Jersey Transit runs in 1983! They also remained the fastest US catenary-supplied electric locomotives until 1969 when Amtrak's Metroliner was introduced.
#4919 operated under Pennsy, Penn Central, Conrail and Amtrak until retiring in 1979. You can see the first GG1, #4800 on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Yard page of this website. There are other GG1s on the Museum of the American Railroad page and National Railroad Museum page.
Wheeling and Lake Eire D-3 is an EMD NW2 1,000 hp switcher.
One thousand, one hundred and forty-five were built from 1939 to 1949, one thousand, one hundred and twenty-one for US railroads and twenty-four for Canada. Four went to the W&LE.
Distinguishing features of the NW2 are the half-height radiator grille at the front and the two stacks in the middle of the hood, just visible in the top left photo.
D-3 was delivered to the W&LE in June 1941. It was then leased to the Nickel Plate in 1950 as #97, and went to the Wabash in 1961. When the Wabash was acquired in 1964, #97 joined the Norfolk & Western roster, but was sold to the Celanese Corporation in 1966 and worked as "NW2" at the Celco Plant in Pearsburg, VA, until retired in 1987.
It was donated to the museum by the Celanese Corporation in 1988.
This 250 ton rail derrick was built by the Industrial Brownhoist Division in Bay City, MI, in 1948 for Norfolk & Western. #514925 retained its number when the N&W amalgamated with Southern to form Norfolk Southern in 1982.
The crane was moved to the museum in 2000 and is displayed with Norfolk Southern flatcar #NW590374. Both crane and cars were used at derailments or where other heavy lifting was called for. The raised box at the front of the flat car carried tools and other equipment used at wreck sites.
Industrial Brownhoist built its first crane for the Chicago & Western Illinois Railroad in 1883 and became a major producer for countries all over the world. Its cranes were used at sea ports, construction sites and mines; they dredged rivers and were utilised in building the Panama Canal.
There are more Industrial Brownhoist cranes on the Spencer S. and Hope Fox Eccles Railroad Center page of this website, the B&O Museum Yard and Car Shop page, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum page and the Lake Superior Railroad Museum page.
Two thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine GP7s were built by EMD and GMD between 1949 and 1954, two thousand, six hundred and fifteen were for US railroads, one hundred and twelve for Canadian and two for Mexican railroads. An EMD 567B 16-cylinder prime mover powered four GM D-27B traction motors.
The GP7 was also offered without a cab. Only five of these GP7B units were built in 1953, all for the AT&SF.
One hundred and eighty GP7s were built for the Chesapeake & Ohio between 1950 and 1953. #5828 was one of seventeen delivered in 1952.
The GP7 was a versatile locomotive, astoundingly successful, and they are often credited with completing main line dieselisation in the US. They soon had a nickname that became synonymous with the GP series: from the initials "GP", they were known as Geeps (pronounced "Jeeps").
#5828 is 55' 11" long and weighs 246,000 lbs. It delivered 40,000 lbs continuous tractive effort at 9.3 mph.
#5828 was moved to Clifton Forge in 2009 (you can see photos of it there on the C&O Railway Heritage Center page of this website). Several GP7s still operate on shortlines, and many have been preserved: BO GP7 #6405 is on the B&O Museum Yard and Car Shop page and NW GP7U #2185 is on the Crewe Railroad Museum page.
ACL GP7 #1804 on the Gold Coast Railroad Museum page is still operating.
One hundred and seven GP9s were built for the Nickel Plate by EMD from 1955 to 1959. #532 was one of the last five delivered in 1959. In 1966 it joined the N&W fleet and was renumbered #2532, subsequently becoming NS #1462 when Norfolk Southern was formed.
#1462 was retired in 1984 and donated to the museum where it was returned to its original NKP livery and number. There is more about GP9s in the description of NW #521 on this page, and NW GP9 #620 is on the North Carolina Transportation Museum page.
This is the "B" Unit of EMD's A-B set FT Demonstrator #103, built in 1939 to promote the locomotive as a freight-hauling diesel-electric. It was the first in EMD's highly successful F series. The "F" stood for freight and "T" for 2,700 hp. Later F units were simply numbered sequentially from F2 to F9.
#103 toured thirty-five states and twenty Class 1 railroads in 1939 showing itself superior in operation and running costs to steam freight locomotives.
War time restrictions prohibited other manufacturers from building diesel locomotives but, as a diesel-only producer, EMD produced five hundred and fifty-five A units and five hundred and forty-one B units between 1939 and 1945, all for US railroads.
The AT&SF got one hundred and fifty-five A and one hundred and sixty-five B units in recognition of its heavy war time traffic and the difficulty of watering steam locomotives on long desert runs.
A single FT unit mustered 1,350 hp, but they were marketed as semi-permanently coupled A-B sets making a single locomotive of 2,700 hp. Many railroads also paired sets to make a four-unit A-B-B-A locomotive of 5,400 hp. With a 16 cylinder 567B prime mover powering four GM D7 traction motors, one on each axle, each unit produced continuous tractive effort of 40,000 lbs at 9.3 mph.
#103 was sold to Southern Railway and came to the museum in 1985.
One of #103's two A units is on display at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation.
#2289 is one of twenty EMD SW9 switchers delivered to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad between 1950 and 1953. The unit was powered by a 12 cylinder EMD 567C prime mover, producing 1,200 hp and driving four GM D37 traction motors, one on each axle. It delivered 43,000 lbs continuous tractive effort at 11 mph.
From 1950 to 1953, seven hundred and eighty-six SW9s were built by EMD for US railroads and twenty-nine by GMD for Canadian railroads.
In 1971, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, successor to the Atlantic Coast Line, purchased the remainder of the Louisville & Nashville shares it did not already own, and the company became a subsidiary.
The Seaboard System Railroad, successor to Seaboard Coast Line, then absorbed the Louisville & Nashville entirely. Some time during that process, #2289 was repainted in the SBD livery. Finally, in 1986, Seaboard was absorbed into the newly named CSX Transportation system.
Only three EMD SW9s have survived. SBD #167 is on the Gold Coast Railroad Museum page.
#3 is a 50 ton diesel-electric switcher built by H. K. Porter for the Virginia Central, the
ex-narrow gauge (3') Potomac, Fredericksburg & Piedmont Railroad, which originally operated thirty-eight miles of track between Fredericksburg and Orange, VA.
In 1926, the Potomac, Fredericksburg & Piedmont was converted to standard gauge and the name changed to the Virginia Central Railway.
In 1938, the entire line was abandoned except for a one mile segment in Fredericksburg which lasted until 1983.
VC #3 appears to have been donated to the museum some time after that.
Above, VC #3 after getting a new coat of paint.
This 30 ton switcher was built by the Whitcomb Locomotive Works of Rochelle, IL, in 1941 for Houston Shipbuilding.
At some point, it was purchased by Blue Ridge Stone and worked as a switcher at the company's complex in Roanoke until donated to the museum in 1985.
Not much seems to be known about this little narrow gauge (3') switcher. Built in 1935, #200 is a pure diesel locomotive, i.e. traction is supplied from the motor directly to the wheels, rather than through a diesel-powered electric generator driving traction motors.
#200 worked at Mead Paper Mills in Lynchburg, VA, until retired in 1981. It was then donated to the museum by Mead Corporation. Since it had undergone some changes in its forty-six years with the company, Carter Machinery of Salem, VA, later restored it to its original condition.
Above right, the simple controls in the cab were operated standing up.
#1 is an 0-4-0F fireless locomotive built by H. K. Porter in 1943. It has 31" drivers and
20" x 18" cylinders.
#1 weighs 70,000 lbs, and operated at a boiler pressure of 150 psi, delivering tractive effort of 12,700 lbs.
#1 last worked for a branch of the Celanese Fiber Company at Amcelle, MD.
Celanese Fiber started out as "Cellonit Gesellschaft Dreyfus and Co." in Basle, Switzerland, in 1912. In 1916, operations were extended to Britain and, two years later, to the US. That year, the British business changed its name to "British Celanese Limited", and the US business adopted the name "Celanese Corporation of America" in 1927.
The company specialised in plastics and chemicals, particularly fabrics and yarns.
The B&O transported freight and workers to and from the plant at Amcelle, but there was also a network of rail lines on the property. Celanese was a major local employer and most families in Amcelle had relatives working for the company: at one point, thirteen thousand people worked there. The plant was closed in the 1960s and then torn down to provide space for a new Federal Prison.
#1 is in rather poor shape, with holes in the boiler and some missing connecting rods. You can see other fireless locomotives on the North Carolina Transportation Museum and B&O Museum Roundhouse pages of this website.
This is one of forty units built by GE in 1914 for the Panama Canal Company. It ran along rails parallel to the canal, pulling ships through the Gatun, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks at the west end.
These so called "mules" were actually used for side-to-side and braking control in the narrow locks, with forward motion provided by the ships' engines. Each mule had a winch operated by the driver, which was played in or out to keep the ship centred in the lock while moving from chamber to chamber. The mules run on rack tracks, to which they were geared. Only three or four "mules" have survived.
#686 was retired in 1962 and donated to the museum by General Electric in 1972.
Above, Norfolk & Western M2c #1151 stands in the yard just outside the museum grounds. It is one of three surviving Norfolk & Western M Class Twelve Wheeler (4-8-0) locomotives.
Retired and sold to Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal in 1950, along with M2 #1118, M2c #1134 and W2 (2-8-0) #917, the so called "Lost Engines of Roanoke" languished in the company's yard in South Jefferson St for nearly fifty years. They were later joined by Baldwin built Chesapeake Western DS-4-4-600 switchers #662 and #663, along with other rolling stock and tenders.
In 1997, however, momentum grew for the locomotives' reclamation. Finally, in August 2009, all three were moved out of the Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal yard destined for restoration.
#1118 went to the NRHS Roanoke Chapter's 9th Street Yard in Roanoke, VA, while #1134 went to the Virginia Railroad Museum in Portsmouth, VA (you can see photos of it on the NW #1134 page of this website). #917 has also found a new home at the Buckeye Express Diner, 810 State Rt. 97 in Bellville, Ohio.
The M Class was designed to haul freight and coal over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Seventy-five Ms were supplied by Alco and fifty by Baldwin in 1906 numbered #375-#499. The following year, another fifty were ordered from Alco and fifty from Baldwin designated M1 and numbered #1000-#1099. These were supplied with Walschaert gear in place of the M Class's Stephenson gear.
They were the heaviest Twelve Wheelers ever built, and were the only non-articulated steam freight locomotives on the N&W roster
In 1910, fifty more 4-8-0s were ordered from Baldwin designated M2, while Norfolk & Western's Roanoke shops built three M2a, two M2b and six M2c class locomotives. The Baldwin locomotives had Walschaert gear, but the Roanoke built 4-8-0s had Baker gear, soon to become standard on the N&W. Many of these locomotives were later fitted with superheaters and mechanical stokers.
#1151 has 56" drivers and 24" x 30" cylinders. The engine weighs 261,100 lbs and the tender 167,500 lbs light with a capacity for 9,000 gallons of water and 14 tons of coal. Colloquially known as "Mollies" by their crew, the M2s were not particularly popular because of their rough riding and poor steaming, probably caused by the relatively small heating surface. With a 45 sq ft grate area, 179 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 4,351 sq ft, including 765 sq ft superheating, they delivered 52,457 lbs tractive effort.
The museum is located right alongside Norfolk Southern's Roanoke Classification Yard. Please remember, however, that the yard itself is Norfolk Southern property and you should not venture outside the museum grounds. Having said that, there has always been plenty of action to see when I have visited.
Above, NS EMD SD40-2 #3224, NS EMD GP59 #4626 and NS EMD SD40-2 #1651 idle just beyond 5th St Bridge near the western end of the museum grounds. NS EMD GP38-2 #5098 sits back beside NW #144509 coal car.
Left and in the next three shots, NS GE B32-8 #3555 and
B32-8 #5111 are engaged in switching activity.
Only forty-nine of these four axle 1,350 hp diesel-electrics were built by GE between 1984 and 1989, all but four of them for Norfolk Southern.
On the left, NS EMD SD40-2 #3370, still bearing its Conrail livery, hauls a mixed freight east with NS EMD SD40-2 #6166 and EMD GP38-2 #5298. NS EMD SD40-2 #3235 is standing on the adjacent track.
Above, after pulling under the 5th Street Bridge, the mixed freight crosses with a train of empty coal hoppers hauled by NS GE C40-9W #9365 and EMD SD60 #6699.
Downtown Roanoke is in the background. The Virginia Museum of Transportation's Robert B. Claytor & W. Graham Claytor Jr. Pavilion is just beyond the tracks in the middle distance.
A little later, another train of empty coal hoppers heads west hauled by NS GE C40-9W #9719 and GE C40-9 #8797.
Related Links:
Virginia Museum of Transportation Location
Virginia Museum of Transportation Museum Website
Norfolk & Western Historical Society
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I have three histories of the Norfolk & Western: Richard E. Prince's Norfolk & Western Railway, published by the author in 1980, Lewis Ingles Jeffries' N&W: Giant of Steam, published by Pruett in 1980, and E. F. Pat Striplin's The Norfolk & Western: a History, published by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company in 1981 (click on the cover of each book to search for it on Bookfinder.com).
Eugene Huddelston's World's Greatest Steam Locomotives, published by TLC in 2001, includes the N&W A class (click on the cover to search for the book on Bookfinder.com).
