This brings back memories of visiting the 611 in the NS yard near my home in Dearborn as a teenager. The fire was banked for the night, and other than the occasional spit from the annoying diesel air line water separators that were added to her in her final years, she lay quiet as she rested for the night. But she was very much alive, the boiler was hot and under pressure, and when the summer sun broke the horizon in a few short hours she would awake from her slumber, ready to pull a train from Detroit to Fort Wayne and back. Little did I know that night that through a few connections and random luck, I would be sitting in the fireman's seat as the 611 headed to Fort Wayne the following day. I rode in the cab all the way down, and hung out in the Lazyboys in the tool car on the way back. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The 611 and her sister 1218 shown here now sit cold down in Roanoke, but I have to thank Darryl, Mr. Lerro, and the folks at VMT for creating an image that brings back such a happy memory.
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