One of the the first photos I had made of N&W 611 under steam since June of 1986. This was for Jim Wrinn's "Fired Up!" photo charter at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC.
I had flown a red eye flight out of San Diego at 7:20 PM the night before with a connection in Phoenix. I landed in Charlotte at roughly 6:04 AM, got my rental car and proceeded about as fast as I could go up I-85 in morning rush hour. I pulled into Spencer, grabbed my camera gear and bee-lined it for the group huddled around Jim Wrinn giving his safety briefing on the platform of a Southern caboose seen in the background of this image. I heard every word Jim said- at least I think- but I had a hard time taking my eyes off of 611.
There she was! Hot and under steam waiting for all of us. I had not ridden an excursion with 611 for various reasons since 1986. I had always kicked myself after the demise of the steam program that I never ventured out on my own as an 18 year old to see 611 on my own terms. Well, it turns out it took 21 years for that to happen. But, here I was in Spencer with a rudimentary knowledge of photography and a new DSLR, a ticket for the photo charter, a ticket to ride the homecoming trip from Lynchburg in to Roanoke, a ticket for the Big Three event (611, 1218 and 2156) and tickets for my father and I to ride the first public excursion out of Manassas. And so began my 12 day Odyssey...
