N & W’s #1218 – The Good Old Days
Fire up the N&W #1218 again!
Abandoned by Norfolk Southern’s steam program in 1994, the locomotive was in the middle of renovations when the money ran out. It sat in the East End Shops until 2001 when Norfolk Southern donated it to the City of Roanoke where she currently sits at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
Norfolk and Western’s J611 is also housed next to her when not on excursion duty.
At one time, she was the most powerful excursion locomotive in the world, beating out Union Pacific’s Challenger #3985.
An articulated locomotive, the N&W #1218 was part of Norfolk & Westerns class A fleet of fast freight locomotives.
Although Norfolk & Western built 43 of these articulated locomotives, the N&W #1218 is the only survivor.
<
Some quick facts about the N&W #1218
- Builder – N & W Roanoke Shops
- build date – 1943
- wheel arrangement – 2-6-6-4
- driver diameters – 70 inches
- locomotive weight – 573,000 lbs
- maximum speed – 70 MPH
Let us know if you ever had the chance to see this monster live! We would love to hear about your experience!
Sorry, no Hi Def photography available in those days!
