611 Rods

[NW Mailing List]

I'd like to clear up some questions regarding the side rods on the 611.

Some people have claimed that the rods for the 611 were fabricated in 
the shops in Roanoke, referring to an N&W film that shows rods being 
forged and machined in Roanoke Shops.
Others stated that the rods for 611 were made by Timken, not the N&W's 
Roanoke Shops.

So here's the story:
The rods for the Class J were originally fabricated in Roanoke Shops as 
shown in the company film. Look closely and you will see that the 
intermediate rod between the number 2 and 3 drivers was actually 2 rods 
installed side-by-side. This caused the rods to be set out from the 
drivers and the need for long crank pins.

According to Bud Jeffries' book "Giants of Steam", in 1952 a failure of 
the crank pin on the number 4 driver led to a redesign of the rods. The 
new lightweight rods only required one rod between the drivers, allowing 
the rods to be located closer to the wheels and shortening the 
crank-pins. This reduced the stresses seen by the crank pins and solved 
the problem.

These new rods were fabricated from a lightweight alloy by Timken, not 
Roanoke Shops. The new rods were installed on numbers 600, 605, 610 and 611.

So despite the N&W film showing rods being fabricated in Roanoke, the 
rods on 611 today were made by Timken.

Ron Davis