Front:
1216
SARTOLK INdNESTERN
NORFOLK AND WESTERN
Back:
RJ92
NORFOLK & WESTERN 1218
Another beautiful day and another inaugural run of a Norfolk & Western steam
locomotive up the Blue Ridge grade east of Roanoke, Va. The 120 foot locomotive and
tender assult the grade and pass under the Blue Ridge Parkway enroute to Lynchburg,
April 26, 1987. Class A 1218 was a war baby constructed in the company's Roanoke
Shops between May 19 and June 2, 1943, in record time. Of the 43 class A 2-6-6-4
articulated steam locomotives constructed in the company's shops, fifteen were built in
1943. Retired from active service at Crewe, Va., July 15, 1959, the 1218 spent most of
its life on the Scioto division handling 190 carcoal trains from Williamson to
Portsmouth, Ohio. No. 1218 would undergo almost two years of extensive rebuilding and
restoration in the Norfolk Southern steam shops in Birmingham, Ala. for excursion
service starting in 1987. Prior to rebuilding, 1218 was placed on display in the Roanoke
Transportation Museum for about fifteen years.
Photo by Carl H. Sturner ©1987
Published by Audio-Visual Designs, P.O. Box 24, Earlton, N.Y. 12058
Ray 19 Nw 1987
Chmen
CD
