Few locomotives in this world could make the Norfolk and Western 1218 take a back seat at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
The Chesapeake and Ohio 614 is one of them.
The 434-ton steam locomotive, which has been called the last commercially manufactured mainline passenger steam engine made in America, arrived in Roanoke on Thursday for a three-month stay. It will be officially unveiled Feb. 12 as part of a two-locomotive exhibit alongside the museum’s other prized steam behemoth, the streamlined N&W 611.
The exhibit, titled “Thoroughbreds of Steam,” will also include a display inside the museum with photographs and historical information, museum officials said. They are considering keeping the 614 under wraps until then — although that’s a lot of wrapping. As of Friday, the gargantuan 614 was fully visible beside the 611 under the museum’s Claytor Pavilion.
Photographs and the rest of the article can be found on the Roanoke Times website.