The restored J-Class 611 steam engine will return to Manassas in June for the annual Railway Heritage Festival.
The 1950’s-era steam locomotive was fully restored and made its debut excursion last summer with several stops around Virginia, including Manassas. Thousands came to the Manassas rail festival to get a glimpse of the train the steamed into town.
The operators of the 611 will once again this year offer excursion rides from Manassas to Front Royal. The “American” route will take passengers through Virginia wine country, past Civil War ruins, non-stop to Front Royal and back again.
Three excursions will be offered over the weekend of the festival June 4 and 5. Morning trips on Saturday and Sunday leave the Manassas Train Station in Downtown at 8 a.m. and return at 12:30 p.m. A Sunday afternoon excursion leaves the Downtown station at 2 p.m. and returns at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets for the trip are sold online range between $129 per person for coach, to $899 for a suite that will seat four people. The locomotive was restored thanks to private donations, and keeps rolling because of donations and revenues generated through tickets sales from these excursion trips, said Virginia Transportation Museum spokesman Walker Nelms.
The Manassas excursion is the final of four trips the 611 will make this year. The three others include trips from Greensboro, N.C. on April 23 and 24, from Roanoke to Lynchburg, and Roanoke to Radford on May 7 and 8.
Last year, the 611 stopped in five towns, including Manassas, and generated between $4.5 and $7 million from for the state, according to information provided by the Virginia Transportation Museum. More than 200,000 came out to see the fully restored locomotive last year.
The locomotive captured the attention of city leaders in Manassas who boarded the train last June before the rail festival. This year’s Manassas Railway Heritage Festival is June 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
