"The Return of a Monarch" - Norfolk & Western 611 is affectionately nicknamed, "The Queen of Steam" on behalf of her great size and streamlining.

Norfolk & Western 611 leads a passenger train up the hill at Carpenters on a sweltering summer day, with temperatures soaring into the high-nineties.

Word's out!

Railfans gather at nearly every grade crossing at the Strasburg Rail Road to catch a glimpse of N&W No. 611, captured here charging across Cherry Hill Road.

N&W No. 611 J Class valve gear in motion - a Railroad: Norfolk & Western
Locomotive: Steam 4-8-4
Location: Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania, USA
Locomotive #: NW 611
Train ID: Unknown
Photo Date: October 06, 2019

N&W No. 611 captured in a heavy downpour while climbing the grade at Cherry Crest Farm, at the Strasburg Rail Road.

Norfolk & Western's 4-8-4 No. 611 leads an excursion through a tunnel of trees near Esbenshade Road during a visit to the Strasburg Rail Road in 2019.

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 in a more)

N&W 611 returns to Strasburg with a late evening excursion.

Norfolk & Western's 4-8-4 J-Class locomotive leads a passenger car excursion through the rural Amish countryside while on a visit to the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania.

Visiting locomotive, N&W No. 611, pulls Strasburg's last train of the day up the steep grade at Cherry Crest Farm and on towards the depot, before calling it a night.

Having racked up hundred's of thousands of miles pulling famed passenger trains between VA and OH throughout her career which began in 1950, J-class N&W No. 611 finds herself young at heart during... (more)

The "Queen of Steam", N&W No. 611 arrives at Blacksburg... I mean, Groff's Grove, in Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania. The "modern" streamline J-Class locomotive may look a little ou... (more)

(Yet another) Three way meet in Paradise

Leaman Place Junction was a busy place in October of 2019, with Strasburg's "regular" steam excursions, visiting 4-8-4 No. 611 and Amtrak's Keysto... (more)

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 backs up towards the water tower for a big gulp before pulling the next excursion. Strasburg Rail Road's 1953 built EMD SW8 (3 years younger) can be seen in the ba... (more)

"The Spirit of Roanoke". The Queen of Steam may not wear this on her side any more, but she will always be the Spirit of Roanoke to me. Taken on her first trip up from the VMT back in ... (more)