On the weekend of June 30 and July 1, the steam program found itself in Roanoke, Virginia on the former Norfolk & Western Christiansburg District. Employee excursions were operated twice a day to Walton, following a popular excursion route from the original NS Steam Program. The 30 mile one-way jaunt to Walton featured an assault on both sides of Christiansburg Mountain—long a favorite spot to shoot N&W steam in the 50s, and later the steam program in the 80s and early 90s.
Unfortunately, bearing troubles once again sidelined the 630 on Sunday morning just west of Singer (about 10 miles from Roanoke) on the first trip, and the remainder of the day operated with diesels. All but one axle had been converted to oil bearings prior to leaving Chattanooga in early June with the hope that she could make it through the first part of the schedule before converting the remaining axle in Chattanooga in mid-July during the break. As of this writing, 630 will remain in Roanoke while the offending parts are sent to Chattanooga for repair and conversion to oil bearings. This should fix the issues once and for all.
Kevin (still kicking himself for leaving the Vicker Coal Tower to shoot on Sunday morning over crowd concerns. Well, it was true, but for the wrong reason)
