N&W 1218 moves again!!!!!

This past weekend we attended the 10th anniversary of the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Va.  Link was a well known commercial photographer. You've probably seen his work but never knew it. His passion though was steam locomotives. From the early 1950's until the last steam locomotive was retired, Link photographed them on the Norfolk & Western Railway. His specialty was night photography. To see some of his amazing work, go to O. Winston Link. More on Link in another post.

As part of the celebration, one of the last N&W steam locomotives, NW1218, was brought from the Virginia Transportation Museum (just up the tracks) to the Link museum. This particular locomotive was one of Link's favorites and he was adamant that it be preserved. NW1218 was parked behind the museum so other railroad photographers could photograph it without obstructions. We were early enough to be able to photo chronicle the move by Norfolk Southern crews.

This video has 31 pictures in it so please give it time to load. If you are on a slow DSL connection or a dial-up connection it may not ever load. SOOOOO here is one of the best pictures of the series.

This was taken as NW1218 went under the bridge i was sitting on. For those that may be interested, NW1218 is a Class A, Norfolk Western 2-8-4 locomotive. That translates to 2 lead wheels, 4 drive wheels, 4 more drive wheels, and 4 trailing wheels.

Since 1218 hasn't been in service for many years, the NS crew used an SD-40 diesel locomotive to push 1218. From my vantage point it was hardly noticeable.

Grenville