The 126 stuck out in my mind.I'm certain that was the figure they gave.They showed a shot of the stretch of track and said it set a record for for this engine but didn't show the record run so was it just hype maybe.I now remember I saw the video during one of our monthly safety meetings when I was at the power company.
These meetings lasted anywhere from an hour to all day and after most of the safety discussions were out of the way a more impromptu meeting took place.
I remember 2 representatives from NS were there to discuss procedure for situations where wire was down across NS track ie:where to get the track number and contact info for their dispatch center so I assume they brought the video.
This was very exciting to us not just for those that were into trains.Back when I was a little kid the Virginia museum of Transportation was little more than a park by the Roanoke river we played on the J and the other engines most of which were busted up and rusted up diesels .
The only building at the museum was a set of bathrooms.The only other display beside the trains was a Titan Missile which sits outside the present Museum building today.The flood of '85 made them realize they needed a different location.
We all new they were the most powerful 4-8-4's ever built and built solely at the east end shops.One of my friends dad was a supervisor in the boiler shop.Another was a supervisor in the car shops.I had friends who were engineers and car makers .The 3 Biggest employers in the Roanoke Valley at the time were N&W,GE, and Appalachian Power in that order.So as you can see we all here in Roanoke thought the J was the biggest and the best.
One thing you have to remember in favor of the record claim is the J had pressure feed lubrication so even being tight from a rebuild she was a little different from a lot of steam engines of her day
I will say this about the 611 .If you got the privilege to see her under steam and hear that steam boat whistle of hers it's something you'll never forget.
It's sad that she's back to being a jungle gym for little kids to play on again.
David
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