You might say this is at least partially inspired by the "&^% trip" post...but then, mebby not ! I suppose there have always been "secret" steam operations almost as long as there have been steam locomotives. For me this saga had it's beginning on the N&W, or perhaps, because of the N&W. We all know that steam officially ended on the N&W at Williamson, WV. on May 6, 1960. Boom...end of story! Or was it? Rumors persisted into the mid '70s of Y6 operation by one or two locomotives...deep in the hollows of West Virginia. Some of the most remote places on the planet. I didn't put much faith in this stuff, until I visited the actual property in the summer of '68. Jeez, here were multiple places you could actually hide a locomotive without difficultly. And then on one nocturnal visit about this same time frame, I heard it! There it was, in the distance...a Y6 whistle ! Heard it several times during that night...about twenty five miles east of Kenova, WV. There would be a few more of these incidents over the next few years, but no stealth steamer was found. OTOH, there were numerous places where such a chooch could be operated in near total obscurity. And speaking of N&W mysteries, there is the case the the S1 switcher seen next to the round house at Roanoke in the summer of '68 from the Sou. Rwy Pelican enroute to Roanoke station and a connection with the west bound Arrow. Nobody has a clue where it went...but there she was, and I was not the only one who saw this machine. Anyway, If I ever hear 611 on the P&OC down around Bridgeville, Pa. I won't be too surprised !
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