A new season of "21st Century Steam" train excursions has launched, with Norfolk Southern Corporation NSC -0.29% and partners Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society scheduling 18 excursions in seven states from April through July.
Tickets for the trains listed below are available through the websites of TVRM (www.tvrail.com) and FWRHS (www.fortwaynerailroad.org). Some trains are Norfolk Southern employee specials as noted on the schedule and are not available to the general public.
All excursions are round trip.
Here is the schedule through July 13:
Date/Train Name/Other info Origin – Turn Point/Destination Locomotive Operator
April 5 Radford Rambler Bristol – Radford, Va. SOU 630 TVRM
April 6 Lonesome Pine Limited Bristol – Bulls Gap, TN SOU 630 TVRM
April 12, 13, & 19 Grundy, Va. – Devon, W.Va. SOU 630 TVRM
May 3 & 4 Elkhart, Ind. – Bryan, Ohio NKP 765 FWRHS
May 10 & 11 Chicago, Ill. – Argos, Ind. NKP 765 FWRHS
May 17 & 18 The New Royal Palm Cincinnati, Ohio – Danville, Ky. SOU 630 TVRM
May 31 & June 1 Lexington Limited Lexington, Ky. – Oneida, Tenn. SOU 630 TVRM
June 7 Steam Anniversary Special Chattanooga, Tenn. – Oneida, Tenn. SOU 630 TVRM
July 5 & 6 Detroit, Mich. – Toledo, Ohio NKP 765 FWRHS
July 12 & 13 Detroit Arrow Detroit, Mich. – Fort Wayne, Ind. NKP 765 FWRHS
Southern Railway No. 630 was built in 1904 by American Locomotive Company at Richmond, Va., and has been a mainstay of 21st Century Steam excursions after having been rebuilt in TVRM's Chattanooga shops. Nickel Plate Road No. 765 was built in 1944 by Lima Locomotive Works at Lima, Ohio, and is familiar to many railroaders, having been in excursion service on and off since 1979.
TVRM will operate the Steam Anniversary Special on June 7, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 train from Stearns, Ky., to Chattanooga that led to Southern Railway's launch of a steam excursion program the same year. The June 6, 1964, train was powered by Southern Railway Locomotive 4501, which now is being rebuilt at TVRM's Chattanooga shops. Southern's excursion program operated from 1964 to 1994. In 2010, Norfolk Southern and TVRM announced plans to launch "21st Century Steam" to highlight milestones in rail history and provide opportunities for audiences to learn about today's safe and service-oriented freight railroads. The inaugural excursions took place during Labor Day weekend 2011, powered by the 630.
Norfolk Southern Corporation NSC -0.29% is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway Company subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal, automotive, and industrial products.