10 MILLION VIEWS?! Glad so many people around the world have enjoyed watching the 611!

Yes, skip to 3:20 to see the drivers slip. I figured I would toss all of the footage in, because who doesn't want to see more of 611?

The diesel locomotives are present for several reasons:

provide electricity to the rolling stock
provide dynamic braking on grades (like descending the Old Fort Loops on this trip)
provide extra tractive effort to reduce the load on the steam locomotive and reduce coal and water consumption
serve as a backup in case of mechanical issues with the steam locomotive

N&W 611 has trouble getting traction while departing Old Fort, North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Special, April 10, 2016.

0:00 Getting ready for departure
0:56 Smoke show
3:20 Wheel slip

Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk...
Virginia Museum of Transportation http://www.vmt.org/
North Carolina Transportation Museum https://www.nctransportationmuseum.org/

Some notes on the video:

1. This was the first time I chased a train.
2. This was recorded with a DSLR that I bought less than a week before this was filmed. I was testing the video mode while it was stationary to see how the steam, smoke, rods, etc. would look with a high shutter speed. Having to manually twist a lens to zoom in and out is going to make any video look choppy.
3. I didn't have a tripod. This wasn't meant to be cinematic quality, and I was mainly taking photos anyway.
4. I was at the right place at the right time. If I'd known the drivers were going to slip I wouldn't have zoomed and panned all over the place.
5. Record everything you can, because you never know if this will be the last time you get to experience something this awesome!