E-News * Virginia Museum of Transportation and Fire Up 611! * March 7, 2014
The Preservation and Education Facility
Preserve. Maintain. Educate.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation launched Fire Up 611! with two goals:
  1. To get one of the world's finest locomotives, Class J 611, running again, and
  2. To provide facilities and equipment to allow her to run for an extended period of time.
The proposed Preservation and Education Facility helps us to achieve both goals.

The Preservation and Education Facility will provide the Class J 611 protection from the weather and remain in ready-to-fire condition. The proposed design resembles a Norfolk & Western Lubritorium and will include maintenance space, educational exhibits and a visitors' gallery. It would also allow us to host rail-oriented meetings and events.

Photo courtesy of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society.  


Preserve

The Preservation and Education Facility will be the new home for the Class J 611. Once the iconic locomotive is restored, the goal will be keeping her in ready-to-fire condition for future generations. After new flues and lots of hard work by volunteers, we want to make sure we protect 611 the best we can.

Maintain

The Preservation and Education Facility will also double as a maintenance facility. It will be long enough to hold the engine, tender and water car. The two-track facility will be wide enough to allow a forklift to move around each side of the locomotive, easing transport of heavier parts and equipment. Plans also include a pit for work and inspections under the locomotive and a crane for moving parts and equipment if we meet our funding goal.     

 

The Fire Up 611! Committee asks for tools to help with the restoration. If you have tools you'd like to donate, please contact Preston Claytor at pclaytor@fireup611.org.  

 

Educate

 

The Preservation and Education Facility -- and the work to maintain the Class J 611 -- will be open to the public, and particularly to our large educational program. Seeing a steam engine this big up close and watching her being worked on is a perfect STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experience! Fans of the Class J 611 travel to Roanoke from around the world to her in person, so keeping her accessible to the public is a must.

Plans call for a Visitors' Gallery and Walkway, educational exhibits and a Wall of Honor listing every donor to Fire Up 611! The Virginia Museum of Transportation hopes to hold guided tours of the maintenance bays so fans of steam technology can see how we prepare the 611 for excursions. 
  Engine Truck and Wheel Work

It's no surprise that 611's front engine truck wheels (the leading or first 4 wheels of the locomotive)   are due for replacement. The work on the Class J 611's truck wheels was scheduled in 1994, but instead, NS' steam excursion program ended, and the locomotive returned to her home at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.  

 

Fire Up 611! mechanical team members Scott Lindsay and Bob Saxtan have been working on a plan to replace the front engine truck with new wheels, axles and roller bearings that are available today. Mechanical engineers are looking at replacements that will properly support and guide the locomotive. Those same mechanical engineers will design a bearing box that will adapt the axles and bearings to the existing truck frame.

 

Weekend Special in our Museum Store! 
Class J 611 Cardboard Model 

Every weekend, VMT's Museum Store offers a special! This weekend (March 7-9) is the
Our cardboard model looks almost like the Queen herself! Our cardboard model kit of the Class J 611 was designed, manufactured, and donated by Corrugated Container Corp. in Roanoke, Virginia.  Your purchase helps the VMT to Fire Up 611!

Weekend Deal Sale Price: $19.99 (plus tax and shipping)
Usually priced at $24.99

Hurry! Sale ends Sunday, March 9!

Missed this weekend's special? Check shop.vmt.org every Friday for a new Weekend Special!

 

 
It's not a question of whether she'll run again; 
but it's up to you WHEN she runs again! 

Help us reach our goal! Thanks to 2,500 fans worldwide, we have raised $2.1 million of the $3.5 million we need to begin 611's restoration. If you make a donation to Fire Up 611! in any amount, your name will be listed on the Wall of Honor. A donation of $611 or more allows you to purchase excursion tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

To learn more about donor benefits and make your donation, visit fireup611.org or mail your donation to:

Virginia Museum of Transportation  

Fire Up 611!  

303 Norfolk Avenue SW

Roanoke, VA 24016

If you have questions about making a donation, please call Fran Ferguson, VMT's Director of Development, at 540-342-5670 (ext. 105) or email fferguson@vmt.org.  

 

How to Contact Key Members of Fire Up 611!  

Donations to Fire Up 611!:  
Fran Ferguson, Director of Development 
Virginia Museum of Transportation 

540-342-5670 

 

Media Inquiries: 

Peg McGuire 

Director of Communications
Virginia Museum of Transportation

pmcguire@vmt.org  

540-342-5670

 

Fire Up 611! Committee Chairman:

Preston Claytor

pclaytor@fireup611.org

 

Fire Up 611! Committee Vice Chairman:
James Stump

jstump@fireup611.org  

 

Executive Director, Virginia Museum of Transportation

Bev Fitzpatrick, Jr.  

bfitzpatrick@vmt.org