Railworks America

Anybody else feel that an all steam N&W route would be fun? I was watching a video on Steam in the late 50's and Steam was still heavily used on the N&W in Bluefield, WV. The Pocahontas district would be great. Just a thought. I like to play with equipment that isn't available in the real world anymore. Don't get me wrong the modern stuff is great and readily available to model but I'd like to see more stuff that isn't around anymore.

YES, we need more routes that cover historical routes and that are set in older eras. To many modern routes and not enough old historical ones!

No steam era route is complete without steam locomotives.
However, who is going to build these 4-8-4's, 2-6-6-4's and 2-8-8-2's the N&W was famous for??

Even if someone creates a route and locomotives just for fun for free, it is a huge undertaking and that's putting it mildly.
Commercial interest in this from any of the renowned developers? I doubt it, though I would certainly buy a complete route and trains set. "N&W: The Last Giant of Steam"

I read somewhere that the Virginia Museum of Transport who owns the N&W 611 apparently owns the rights to that locomotive. So any one who develops an N&W Class J 4-8-4 for payware will have to pay a healthy ransom to them. Not sure about the Class A or the Class Y though. They are the only 3 LARGE examples of N&W left that I know of.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:No steam era route is complete without steam locomotives.
However, who is going to build these 4-8-4's, 2-6-6-4's and 2-8-8-2's the N&W was famous for??

Even if someone creates a route and locomotives just for fun for free, it is a huge undertaking and that's putting it mildly.
Commercial interest in this from any of the renowned developers? I doubt it, though I would certainly buy a complete route and trains set. "N&W: The Last Giant of Steam"

Somebody did the 4-6-6-4 Challenger and the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy so it can be done. If it's a team working on it then it can be done quicker.

You could always get around the N&W J issue by building a K Seriously, I am not sure they own that N&W shape - maybe build a J and just dont include 611.

The issue has always been routes. Look at the UP - all the UP steam and nowhere it run it. There was a Sherman Hill heritage version being produced, but I think that has died a death for what ever reason. DTG wont be building a steam route - they have effectively killed the franchise with TSW. Nobody is going to wait years fro a steam route, and then which one? Bound to be British and they cant seem to get the modern routes and infrastructure working yet, let alone the complexities of steam. While I would LOVE to see a J on the Powatan Arrow or A's on a coal drag, it is just not going to happen. for my , I think the hobby is in serious decline. Just look at the board activity; poor Buzz seems to be single handedly keeping things going. Was great while it lasted...

I'm told that the VMT did put in for a trademark on the shape of the J class, as well as the 611 markings in various forms. You could get most of the operations you'd need out of a Y6a, and Y6b model. an A Class would be fantastic as well.

Y6a:



Y6b:



The two are very similar, the biggest difference is the type/placement of the feedwater heater.

Oz is correct about a K class to run-around the J-class issue, as they looked almost identical.



One could also do up a red GP9 for N&W passenger service to avoid modeling the steamer.



As for a route, How about Roanoke to Lynchburg? That would include the famed Blue Ridge Grade, and I believe would be a great deal of fun. It would still be a manageable length to build too. Being a lifelong Virginian myself, I fully support the idea of an N&W steam era route.

If someone is serious about this they should contact Krellnut (AKA Walter) about doing the track work. He loves doing it and is really good at it.

Fleegle411 wrote:I'm told that the VMT did put in for a trademark on the shape of the J class, as well as the 611 markings in various forms. You could get most of the operations you'd need out of a Y6a, and Y6b model. an A Class would be fantastic as well.

The war baby J1a without the cowling looks oh so cool and brutish:

JohnS wrote:I read somewhere that the Virginia Museum of Transport who owns the N&W 611 apparently owns the rights to that locomotive. So any one who develops an N&W Class J 4-8-4 for payware will have to pay a healthy ransom to them. Not sure about the Class A or the Class Y though. They are the only 3 LARGE examples of N&W left that I know of.

According to Wikipedia, there were three of these engines (numbered 611-613), so what's wrong with building one of the other two, that aren't effectively 'copyrighted'?

SAR704 wrote:

JohnS wrote:I read somewhere that the Virginia Museum of Transport who owns the N&W 611 apparently owns the rights to that locomotive. So any one who develops an N&W Class J 4-8-4 for payware will have to pay a healthy ransom to them. Not sure about the Class A or the Class Y though. They are the only 3 LARGE examples of N&W left that I know of.

According to Wikipedia, there were three of these engines (numbered 611-613), so what's wrong with building one of the other two, that aren't effectively 'copyrighted'?

The shape of the engine itself is copyrighted also. Any likeness of the 611 will cost money to produce.

So... do a payware route without the 611, and make the 611 a joint project with the VMT, with all or some of the proceedings going to help preserve the 611.