ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — One of the Virginia Museum of Transportation’s steam passenger locomotives is heading to North Carolina to be restored.
The museum says in a news release that the Norfolk & Western Class J 611 locomotive will leave Roanoke on Saturday. It’s expected to arrive at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina, on May 29.
The locomotive began service in 1950. The Virginia museum says it’s the only Class J 611 still in existence.
A campaign to restore, operate and preserve the locomotive raised more than $2 million. The museum says an additional $1.5 million will be raised as an endowment.
Museum executive director Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr says the restoration will take about nine months.
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