Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) Roanoke (East End) Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959, and was later restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion service for their steam program, pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States from 1987 to 1991. It is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
Historic significance
No. 1218 is the sole survivor of the Norfolk and Western's class A locomotives and the only surviving 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive in the world. While smaller than Union Pacific's famous and more numerous "Challenger" class of 4-6-6-4 locomotives, Norfolk and Western's design racked up unmatched records of performance in service.
During No. 1218's excursion career, it was the most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world, with a tractive effort of , well above Union Pacific 3985, the next-strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive, with a tractive effort of ). Since May 2019, however, No. 1218 became the locomotive with the second highest tractive effort, after Union Pacific 4014, which has a tractive effort of . Unlike diesel-electric locomotives of similar high tractive effort (for starting heavy trains) but typical for a steam locomotive, it could easily run at 70 miles per hour (113 km/h) and more.
History
Revenue service and preservation
No. 1218 was the ninth member of the second batch of fifteen class A locomotives (Nos. 1210–1224) built in June 1943 at the East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). It was initially assigned to haul fast freight trains, heavy coal trains, and even heavy passenger trains on the N&W's Scioto Division, between Williamson, West Virginia and Columbus, Ohio, along with an occasional side trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. In the late 1950s, No. 1218 was moved to the Norfolk Division, running between Roanoke and Norfolk, Virginia.
In July 1959, No. 1218 was retired and purchased by the Union Carbide Co. in Charleston, West Virginia, where it was used alongside its sister locomotives Nos. 1202 and 1230 as stationary boilers at a chemical plant in South Charleston, West Virginia. In 1964, Nos. 1202 and 1230 were scrapped, but No. 1218 was in fairly good condition as it was rescued by New England millionaire F. Nelson Blount for his private collection of steam locomotives at Steamtown, U.S.A. in Bellows Falls, Vermont a year later. Additionally, many of the parts on Nos. 1202 and 1230 such as the air pump, crosshead guide yokes, front side rods, and gauges were salvaged as donors for the No. 1218 locomotive.
In 1967, Blount died in an airplane crash, resulting in the Steamtown foundation running into financial trouble. As part of their effort to recoup their financial losses, the foundation put No. 1218 on a long-term lease to the Roanoke Transportation Museum, and the locomotive was cosmetically restored at the East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, the same place where the locomotive was built. Afterwards, it was put on display as a temporary exhibit at the Roanoke Transportation Museum in 1971.
Excursion service
In 1982, the N&W and Southern (SOU) railways were both merged to form the new Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). Additionally, No. 1218's feedwater pump was removed to replace the damaged one on ex-N&W J Class No. 611, which was restored to operating condition for excursion service on the NS steam program, which started in 1966 by the SOU. By the end of 1984, the NS steam program, needed a more stronger and powerful steam locomotive to pull the longer and heavier excursion trains along with assisting No. 611. After some subsequent disputes took place, NS and the Steamtown foundation settled on a trade where the former acquired No. 1218, and the latter received two EMD diesel locomotives in return.