Norfolk and Western 611 pulls the Shenandoah Valley Limited - Virginia Scenic Railway - 10/25/25

Hey y'all! In today's video, my friends and I chase the famous Norfolk and Western 611 steam locomotive. She's leading the Shenandoah Valley Limited passenger excursion, a Virginia Scenic train on the Buckingham Branch Railroad. Today's trips start in Goshen Virginia, and end in Staunton, over a distance of 30 miles away. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:38 Locomotive history and info 1:11 Departing Goshen boarding area 2:22 Train switches onto mainline 3:17 Leaving Goshen Eastbound - Main Street 3:50 Crossing bridge over Maury River Road 4:10 Black Oak Road 5:01 Poplar Avenue, Craigsville 6:05 Shenandale Gun Club entrance road 7:12 Scott Christian Road, Buffalo Gap 8:47 Cedar Green Road bridge 10:08 Cros-B-Crest Farm 11:26 Downtown Staunton 12:45 Departing Cros-B-Crest Farm westbound 13:41 Railroad Avenue, Craigsville 15:07 Goshen junction - Main Street 16:50 Arrival at Goshen boarding area 17:53 Outro More Information: Norfolk and Western Railway 611 is a J-Class 4-8-4 Northern steam engine, built in 1950 by the Norfolk and Western builders in-house in Roanoke Virginia. 611 was one of 14 J-Class engines built. The engine is widely considered to be the peak of USA steam locomotive technology. She’s capable of producing 80,000 pounds of tractive effort and possibly able to reach 110 miles per hour. She’s also one of two operational streamlined steam engines in the USA as of 2025. N&W 611 was in revenue service from 1950 until 1959, pulling the last of the N&W steam-powered passenger trains, until the railroad adopted diesel motive power. Since those days, 611 has been restored to operating condition, and has run tourist excursions in several places, including the Strasburg Railroad, and the Buckingham Branch railroad in Virginia with the Shenandoah Valley Limited trains.