N&W 611 "J" steaming into Manassas, VA

Why not chase it with the rest of us? This will get you started: http://www.frograil.com/tours/ns/BLineTour.php

You should be able to get several shots by following the directions.

I've been chasing steam excursions on this line long before I was able to drive and had to tag along with my dad.

I've never tried to view/photograph a train along a route before so this is all new to me. I'm probably just going to find a single vantage point to photograph from when it returns to Manassas before noon. It would be great to find an elevated vantage so as to see the top of the train as it passes by. 

Thanks for that link, Jeff. Using Google Maps, I'd found a couple of spots mentioned there, but there's a lot more info on that site, including grade and speed.

David

I have done considerable field work along this line in the past month, and this line has  few overhead bridges.

VSP and local law enforcement may take a dim view of shooting from the I66 bridges at Haymarket and Markham, also the RT234 and VA28 bridges, unless there are walkways.
The Sudley Manor RD. and University Blvd. bridges may be better, I believe the latter has a bikeway on the east side.
The only other bridge west of Haymarket is at Linden, and the old wooden bridge has been replaced with a concrete slab, albeit with no fences, but little nearby parking.

My experience on this line goes back to the 1218 trips in 1989 and 1991, however much of the landscape has changed because of the rampant overdevelopment in NOVA.

The Frograil info itself is out of date in places, i.e. the xing at Distillery Rd. in Markham is posted on the south (sunny) side. There also appears to be little legal access to the passing siding west of Linden. On both sides of Linden Hill, there has been considerable housing built, with a number of private roads and xings. I don't know how some of these home/land owners will react to gaggles of camera-toting fans
using their property, but 1 owner I encountered did not want his driveway even used for U-turns. I was sorely tempted to tell some of the locals that during the weekend of June 6-7, there will be more Yankees around then since the Civil War! 
I noted heavy traffic at Marshall, Delaplane, Linden, and 6th Ave./Happy Valley Rd. in Front Royal, and there is no legal access to Riverton Jct.

Awww...don't give up so easily. Join the rest of us nuts!

If I was going to pick just one bridge to shoot from, it'd be the bridge at the top of the grade at Linden. The train will be working uphill regardless of which way it's going. It's not close to Manassas, but that's where I'd go.

I remember a 611 trip back in 1993 in a downpour. The J was down on its knees on the slippery rails trying to bring the train up the hill.  

Just posted at the Trains magazine site: http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/obs...-royal-virginia.aspx

There is a lot of great information in that article.  If I wasn't going to be on the 6/6/15 run I would be out there taking photos.  Come to think of it why can't I do that on the 6/7/15 run.  Sounds like a great idea.  It only took me two weeks to figure that out.  Sometimes I amaze myself.

What route will the train go to get to Manasas and when?

Alex Mayes did hit some good spots, but he got the Markham station location wrong - it's on the north side. He also did not mention a few spots; probably saving them for himself(lol).

I have invested considerable time and planning to determine my moves, hopefully traffic will not be impossible. 

5/23/2015 photo of Markham,VA. X-Southern depot, pretty ramshackle and privately owned. Passenger service here ended 6/28/1948.

Photo taken about 11am from public crossing, but road deadends into private property.
Warren W. Jenkins image

VDOT let me take video at the Route 29 grade crossing in Gainesville just east of Manassas.  She was haulin' and past so fast I was lucky to get pictures.  Got a great 'upskirt' shot as she backed out of the Manassas station.

THANKS for sharing that wonderful video of the FINEST, most modern, and most aesthetically pleasing 4-8-4 ever built!

Those folks at the East End Shops in Roanoke certainly knew a thing or two about how a steam engine should be built!

So nice to see her under steam again! 

Here is my video of the train arriving in Manassas as well as a walk through the train.  It was an awesome experience.

The train is still doing more excursions this summer check that out here

http://fireup611.org/events/

JIMMYSB: I noted that the length of your second video was 6:11!  

Interior video......beyond awesome.....waaaay beyond awesome !   Thanks a ton, man !

Thanks! I enjoyed doing it!