May 28, 2014
St. Louis Museum of Transportation
and Virginia Museum of Transportation to trade historic
locomotives
NORFOLK, VA. - The Museum of
Transportation, St. Louis, and the Virginia Museum of
Transportation
are in discussions to bring Norfolk and Western Y6a steam engine #2156,
currently in the St. Louis museum, back to its place of origin at Roanoke, Va.,
on a five-year loan for display at the Virginia museum, in a transaction
facilitated by Norfolk Southern.
In exchange, the Virginia museum
will send to St. Louis a Southern Railway diesel General Motors EMD FTB unit to
complement the St. Louis museum's FTA demonstration unit.
"This will reunite the last
surviving Y-class locomotive, one of the hardest pulling steam locomotives ever
built, with the J-611 and the A-1218 in Roanoke, where all three were designed
and built by Norfolk and Western," said Molly Butterworth, cultural site manager
for the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. "In return, our historic FTA, built
in 1939 to demonstrate to the rail industry the efficiency of diesel power, will
be reunited with its complimentary B unit."
"We are thrilled to welcome the
Y6a home again," said Bev Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Virginia Museum
of Transportation. "We're grateful to the St. Louis Museum of Transportation for
this opportunity to reunite three powerful sisters of steam in their home
town."
The Museum of Transportation, a
St. Louis County Park in west St. Louis County, Mo., houses what has been
recognized as one of the largest and best collections of transportation vehicles
in the world. With over 70 locomotives, half of them "one-of-a-kind" or "sole
survivors" of their type, the Museum has one of the most complete collections of
American railroad motive power, and its collections of automobiles, buses,
streetcars, aircraft, horse-drawn vehicles, and riverboat materials are
constantly expanding to reflect the ever-changing nature of
transportation.
The Virginia Museum of
Transportation, Virginia's official transportation museum, is home to two of the
most powerful steam locomotives in existence today: the N&W Class A 1218 and
the N&W Class J 611. The Museum attracts visitors of all ages from across
the U.S. and around the world. Through exhibits, artifacts, and an outstanding
collection of rail equipment, cars, trucks, airplanes, and more, the Museum
tells the story of Virginia's rich transportation history.
Norfolk Southern
Corporation
(NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk
Southern Railway Company subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of
Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and
provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates
the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of
coal, automotive, and industrial products.
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Norfolk Southern
contacts: