Touring the Railroad Yard at the Virginia Museum of Transportation | ft. N&W

On August 6th, 2024, I made a visit to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, VA. This was my first time visiting this museum, and I decided to document a walkaround of the railyard, which is the outer portion of exhibits at the museum. The museum also has some excellent indoor exhibits. While they are not featured in this video, I encourage you to visit the Virginia Museum of Transportation if you have the opportunity to do so.

The highlight of this visit for me was most definitely being able to see the Norfolk and Western (N&W) #1218. Built in 1943 in the city of Roanoke, VA by the N&W, #1218 is a 2-6-6-4 simple articulated steam locomotive. With an impressive 114,000 pounds of tractive effort, #1218 proved to be a powerful locomotive used on many of the railroad's freight trains. Additionally, it served on the Norfolk Southern steam program from 1987 to 1991, pulling several passenger excursions for special events.

While I never got to see the #1218 run (as it has been out of service since 1991), I was very happy to see it in person. I grew up with various train DVDs which displayed it in service during the late 80s.

Additionally, it was an awesome experience to see all of the other locomotives and rolling stock in the museum's collection, with the other highlight of course being the famous N&W #611!

I hope you enjoy this brief look at some of the train portion of exhibits at the Virginia Museum of Transportation!

Music in this video (in order of appearance):
Song: Tropic Fuse
Artist: French Fuse
Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library

Song: Arm Wrestler
Artist: National Sweetheart
Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library

Song: Some College
Artist: National Sweetheart
Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library

Song: Desert Drive
Artist: Everet Almond
Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library

Song: Headlands
Artist: National Sweetheart
Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library