4-8-4 Class J 'Northern' NW Profile and Models

The Norfolk and Western class J was a class of fourteen 4-8-4 "Northern" streamlined steam locomotives built by the railway's Roanoke Shops located in Roanoke, Virginia from 1941 to 1950. They were operated by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in revenue service until the late 1950s. These locomotives were built to run on the N&W main line between Norfolk, Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio, pulling the Powhatan Arrow, the Pocahontas and the Cavalier passenger trains as well as ferrying the Southern Railway's Birmingham Special, the Pelican and the Tennessean between Monroe, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee. The class Js along with the class As and Ys freight locomotives, became the Norfolk and Western's "Big Three" considered to be at the pinnacle of steam technology. Only one class J locomotive, No. 611, survives. It was retired in 1959 from revenue passenger service and moved to the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) in 1962. It has been restored twice: once as part of the Norfolk Southern Railway's steam program in 1982 and again as part of the VMT's Fire up 611! campaign in 2015.

(Information provided via Wikipedia)

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