5/18/1986 - The 611 accident that could have ended the NS Steam Program 35 years ago!

Wed May 19 16:57:27 EDT 2021

Mention of the Dismal Swamp derailment reminded me of the trips that had to be cancelled because of the extensive damage to several of the excursion railcars, especially the much-loved Queen & Crescent Club, where I worked many a trip in the commissary selling food and beverages to the happy rail fans and their families.  Great memories, but this was a very sad weekend indeed.

This is a slide from a program that I put together on my reminiscences of the Southern/N&W steam trips out of Alexandria, VA:

Brian Gilleran
Herndon, VA

On May 19, 2021, at 3:37 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

This mention of the 611 accident reminds me of my involvement.  At that time I was on the NS three-man derailment investigation team for what was then called the Northern Region (former N&W), and VP-Mechanical Hobert Scott called me at home that Sunday to pick up the Roanoke Shops Passenger Car Shop foreman and come to the derailment site. The NTSB soon took over the investigation, and I was assigned to work with the NTSB mechanical specialist, Russ Quimby, in inspecting the equipment involved.  This included an inspection of the 611 from a Shaffers Crossing inspection pit where I discovered an Armco wheel set under the tender.  These wheels on freight cars were prohibited in interchange because of a high failure rate, so I arranged to have that tender wheel set replaced.  Later, at the NTSB hearing held in Norfolk I was the one who testified about advantage of tightlock couplers (vs. older E-head couplers) in keeping derailed cars coupled together.

Gordon Hamilton

On 5/19/2021 12:59 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Thanks to Garland Harper for reminding us about this very scary event 35 years ago! 
> Feel free to share. 
> Norris 
> 
> Norris Deyerle 
> Blue Ridge Chapter, National Railway Historical Society Chairman of Virginia's Rail Heritage Region Partners 
> BRC, NRHS Info: www.blueridgenrhs.org <http://www.blueridgenrhs.org/>  
> 744 Chinook Place
> Lynchburg, Virginia 24502-4908
> Cell: 434-851-0151 
> From: grharper at aol.com <mailto:grharper at aol.com> <grharper at aol.com> <mailto:grharper at aol.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 12:06 PM
> To: Norris Deyerle <railcow at msn.com> <mailto:railcow at msn.com>
> Subject: 5/18/1986
>  
> 
> 611 is having a run of bad mechanical luck this week it seems.
> Yesterday, 35 years ago, could have brought the whole idea of Steam on the mainline to a standstill.  Had anyone other than Bob Claytor been at the helm (in more ways than one) that may have been the case. 
> 611's (train) wreck in the swamp. May 18, 1986.
> 
> Here is a brief from the ICC
> "Derailment of Steam Excursion Train Norfolk and Western Railway Company Train Extra 611 West, Suffolk, Virginia, May 18, 1986
> Cause: The failure of the Norfolk and Western Railway Company (N&W) to train its Maintenance of Way Department employees adequately in the inspection and repair of continuous welded rail, and the failure of the Maintenance-of-Way Department management to monitor the implementation of the N&W�s maintenance-of-way practices by its employees. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the N&W�s decision to use equipment without tightlock couplers and passenger cars with modified interiors having severe injury-producing mechanisms."
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