3rd Time's the Charm...Not this time! What was suppose to be an exciting chase of one of the first mainline steam excursions on Norfolk Southern in almost 20 years ended up being a nightmare for crews and a bit of disappointment for rail buffs in less than stellar weather. Although this photo tells a slightly different story weather wise, this was the only sunlight and blue skies that was seen during the whole trip. Soon after the rain came back! Here, crews are seen working non-stop to find a solution to 630's overheating bearings while a crowd forms to watch the operation in play. Eventually an empty coal train met, and ran around 630, and the crews temporarily fixed the problem, but it didn't prevent 630 from breaking down one more time South of Athens forcing an executive decision to pull the plug on the rest of 630s journey for the day. In all, this was a great and fun chase minus the breakdowns and weather considering it was my first time chasing steam I was all smiles all the way back home to Georgia!
