Norfolk and Western 1218

Common card · No. 433289

Norfolk and Western 1218 is the only surviving example of the Norfolk and Western Railway's (N&W) class A 2-6-6-4 steam locomotives. It was built in June 1943 by N&W's Roanoke (East End) Shops in Roanoke, Virginia to haul both fast passenger and freight trains around the N&W system. No. 1218 was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959 and sold to the Union Carbide Company (UCC) to be used as a stand-by stationary boiler at one of their chemical plants in South Charleston, West Virginia. In 1964, No. 1218 was sold to F. Nelson Blount, who added it to his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection for preservation and display. In 1969, it was relocated to Roanoke, where it was cosmetically restored and put on display at the Roanoke Transportation Museum; later known as the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT). In 1985, No. 1218 was removed from display by Norfolk Southern (NS), and in 1987, it was restored and placed into service on NS' steam excursion program. It hauled a number of excursions...

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