I had previously thought my August '94 footage from Horseshoe Curve was the oldest tape I had...I was wrong.

It's this tape, the last trip I took behind Norfolk & Western class J 4-8-4 611, dated October 30, 1993, and as it turned out it was also the last trip I took before Norfolk Southern's steam program was cancelled. The trip was put on by the Piedmont Carolinas Chapter of the NRHS and ran from Charlotte, NC to Toccoa, GA. I rode many of the chapter's trips between 1984 and 1993, but unfortunately all of them except this one predated my or my friend's ownership of a video camera. By the time I bought my Handycam in '96 the steam program was long gone, so the clips from this tape are the only surviving personal footage I have of the 611 under steam.

The weather was gloomy but it wasn't about to stop me from filming the 611 as her crew went about the business of preparing her for the return trip from Toccoa. After topping off the coal and water, 611 gingerly pulled the train forward to turn on a wye. For the reverse move through the second leg of the wye, NS employed a Geep to pull the train through tail end first, which is where part 2 picks up. (less info)