C&O 614

Jim, It's on display at the C&O Historical Society in Clifton Forge, VA.  http://cohs.org .  Jim Justice, who owns The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV , now WV's Governor, had it repainted in the Greenbrier's colors and planed to run it between Washington, DC and White Sulphur for resort patrons.  As of today I have no idea.  Great Locomotive and looks she's ready to run and be back on the rails.

Think it is in Virginia. Might still be in Green.

I believe the passenger cars were blocked from running in DC due to new Amtrak compliance requirements. The whole thing was killed... and unfortunately the engine is rusting away.

Thanks for the info. She sure is pretty !!  It was high stepping in the video until it reached Bakerstown hill north bound on the old P&W and it slowed to a crawl but made it over the top.

645 posted:

Doesn't Ross Rowland still own the 614?

Yes, he still does. Plus, Ross was the person that painted HIS 614 "green" and NOT Jim Justice, as mentioned above.

Was 614 the one that was held by NJ Transit for a while?

Eddie Marra posted:

Was 614 the one that was held by NJ Transit for a while?

Not sure what you mean by "held by NJT", but Ross did operate many excursions on NJT, after the NJT shop installed that fancy automatic train control/cab signal system on 614.

From what I recall, after the NJT excursions, the 614 was stored on the Reading & Northern.  At that time it was inspected and deemed to require costly mandatory boiler work before running again. Reading & Northern may have considered purchasing the 614 at that time but the repair cost and the pending restoration of their Reading 2102 ended it.      

Hot Water posted:

Eddie Marra posted:

Was 614 the one that was held by NJ Transit for a while?

Not sure what you mean by "held by NJT", but Ross did operate many excursions on NJT, after the NJT shop installed that fancy automatic train control/cab signal system on 614.

I just meant that it was at their facility for a while.  Wasn't that where the auction was held to sell the engine at one point?

Eddie Marra posted:

Hot Water posted:

Eddie Marra posted:

Was 614 the one that was held by NJ Transit for a while?

Not sure what you mean by "held by NJT", but Ross did operate many excursions on NJT, after the NJT shop installed that fancy automatic train control/cab signal system on 614.

I just meant that it was at their facility for a while.  Wasn't that where the auction was held to sell the engine at one point?

Sorry, never heard of any "auction" either.

Hot Water posted:

Eddie Marra posted:

Hot Water posted:

Eddie Marra posted:

Was 614 the one that was held by NJ Transit for a while?

Not sure what you mean by "held by NJT", but Ross did operate many excursions on NJT, after the NJT shop installed that fancy automatic train control/cab signal system on 614.

I just meant that it was at their facility for a while.  Wasn't that where the auction was held to sell the engine at one point?

Sorry, never heard of any "auction" either.

It was mentioned on trainorders.com, steamlocomotive.info and a few other places.  He tried to auction it off in 2000 but there either weren't any takers or no bids met the estimate or reserve.

EDIT: found it.  "We did attempt to sell the engine in 2000 as we were totally involved in starting the Pacific Wilderness service in British Columbia and were hopefull someone capable of running her on the mainline would surface and keep her active."

-Ross Rowland, http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/1525.aspx

Sorry Guy's, I didn't mean to imply that Jim Justice owned the 614, but the way I wrote it makes it seem that way.  Thanks HW and yes Ross Rowland still owns it.

There was in fact an auction that occurred in July of 2000. There was one bidder that didn't meet the reserve, so it went unsold and back into storage at NJT's Meadowlands Maintenance Complex for a few years. After that it went up to Port Clinton PA for outdoor storage on the Reading and Northern.  Oh, that one bidder from the 614 auction was Reading and Northern's CEO, Andy Muller.

From there it went to Roanoke to participate in a photo shoot at the Virginia Museum of Transportation, followed by a trip to Clifton Forge VA to don her new green dress!

(While some may not like the color choices, it's keeping the engine far more preserved and protected in outdoor storage then the last paint job would've given!)

I found a few pictures of the event, after it went into storage, and then not long after it had been placed in storage in Port Clinton.

614 is one of the most handsome 4-8-4 out there, right up there with 611 in my opinion.  Hope someday she runs again.

Those big steamers, and even the smaller ones, are pure works of art.  A shame some are neglected but it takes $$ to really protect them plus there are issues with the owners at times, I know.

>>>it takes $$ to really protect them ...

Make that $$$$$$$$$$$ !

You are all forgetting that CSX is currently the most anti steam railroad on Earth. Especially now with steam hater Hunter Harrison in charge. 614 has nowhere to go because the museum connects with CSX ex-C&O track. Somehow they got CSX to move it to the museum or they got Buckingham Branch to move it from Staunton. NS originally moved it from Reading, PA to Roanoke, VA. Wish it would have stayed in PA. Looks like it's stuck in VA for a long time.

SO, if Buckingham Branch LEASES the track from CSX, who has final say on what moves where?  It seems that would be covered by the lease agreement.  If there is no mention of steam locomotives, isn't BB free to do as they like?

614 in happier days, running between Hoboken and Port Jervis

That is one handsome piece of machinery!