Pointing the Way
The Powhatan Arrow was Norfolk and Western’s day coach train from its easternmost terminus at Newport News Virginia to Cincinnati. The 1949 train seemed perfect in appearance: all coaches were made to the same plan, cars were painted Tuscan red with yellow stripes and back roofs and were made by Pullman Standard in a single order delivered in 1949...Number 611, a Class-J locomotive, was built at Norfolk and Western’s Roanoke Shops in May 1950. She was one of fourteen J-class engines built by N&W and is known as the “Queen of Steam”. It was considered one of the finest steam engines ever built. ..The engine could generate more than 5,100 horsepower and move at speeds up to 110 mph, and it is believed she could have reached 140mph. She was built near the end of the steam era and retired from service in 1959. No. 611 is part of the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke Virginia...