HiDef: Southern 630 on the River Line 11/17/13

On an overcast and slightly rainy weekend in mid-November, Southern 630 made two trips on Norfolk Southern's River Line between Knoxville, TN and Asheville, NC. The route, which follows the mighty French Broad River for approximately 87 miles, traverses the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina. It serves as a main freight route for east-west traffic between Norfolk Southern's Piedmont and Central Divisions.

However, the star of the show this day was not freight, but Southern 2-8-0 #630. As part of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam Program, TVRM and NS scheduled two day-long excursions from Knoxville to Asheville and back on the weekend of the 16th and 17th. Both trains sold out, and the trips were a great success with 630 out-performing the diesels in some respects! (Her original helper slug set broke down the first day and had to be replaced in Asheville!)

In this video, you'll see the best part of her 13-hour round trip in daylight. We caught her well over a dozen times on this chase, including at well-known locations such as Newport, Del Rio, Marshall, and Biltmore. The Appalachians are our setting and the 630 is our star in S-Line Productions' latest video! Enjoy!