Messaging by Lamplight
The old-fashioned way of sending a message to the train engineer was to attach it to this hoop and pass it on as the train went by. The railroad lingo was HAND-ON which was a train order or company mail caught with the hoop or without stopping..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..