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The first round of paying customers will get to experience the train ride from Goshen to Staunton this weekend, but the 611 engine has already made a pair of test runs between Victoria Station outside of Goshen and Staunton, including one with a compliment of passengers including local media, government officials and members of the Virginia Scenic Railway and the Virginia Museum of Transportation and those who helped put together the project over recent weeks.
“The engine performed beautifully, the weather was certainly perfect and the crowd seemed to be well pleased and happy with the event, so I think it went very well,” Will Harris, president of the Virginia Museum of Transportation’s board of directors said of Friday’s excursion. Harris owns the land where the station sits, and has been working since February to clear it to get it ready for this fall’s excursions.
“We signed the contract with Buckingham Branch on Feb. 10 and started clearing land next day,” he said. “We knew we’d need every minute we could get, so we started almost immediately working on the site.”
Friday’s excursion did have one small hiccup, when a breaker on the generator in one of the passenger cars flipped, resulting in the train having to stop between Goshen and Craigsville to fix the problem. The issue was resolved quickly and the train made the rest of the trip to Staunton and back without any additional problems.
“That’s the first time that train has been connected together, so we kind of expected a few glitches,” Harris said. “Actually, we got along better than I expected with it.”
The museum began looking to run excursions with the 611 last year after the state of Virginia purchased the track from Doswell to just outside of Clifton Forge from CSX. CSX had not allowed private passenger trains to run on its lines, but Harris contacted several local representatives to advocate for that being allowed when the state bought the line.
A number of routes were considered, including an excursion from Clifton Forge to Gordonsville and then from Staunton to Gordonsville, but between CSX still owning the tracks in the town of Clifton Forge and the reverse curves (S-shaped curves where the track curves one way and then immediately curves the other) on Afton Mountain being difficult for the 611 to navigate, the list of potential excursion routes began to narrow down. Starting the excursions in Staunton and running to Goshen was considered, but there turned out to be no place to park the train or the cars in Staunton, so the decision was made to start the excursions in Goshen.
Prior to Friday’s excursion, Goshen Mayor Tom McCraw declared the day Will Harris Day in Goshen and presented Harris with a key to the town and a certificate of appreciation, while Vice Mayor Steve Bickley presented Harris with a plaque thanking him for his service to the town. Both Mc-Craw and Bickley thanked not only Harris, but his family for their service to the town. Harris expressed gratitude for everyone who helped make the excursions possible, from delegates Terry Austin and Ellen Campbell to the board at the Museum of Transportation, to his employees who helped get the land ready for the train.
“I have a wonderful family, and I couldn’t do this without them,” he added. “I’ve been extremely blessed in life, and I just want to thank everyone for being here.”
Harris and his family were among the passengers in Friday’s excursion, and Harris told The News-Gazette that he plans to ride on some of the other excursions this fall, though he wasn’t sure how many.
“It just depends on where I’m needed the most to make everything work, and I may be on the ground some and not on the train as much, but I’m sure I’ll ride some more,” he said.
The excursions will run twice a day between Goshen and Staunton. A few tickets are still available for most of the excursions and can be purchased at https://www.virginiascenicrailway. com/rides.
