Roanoke Shops facts for kids
The Roanoke Shops (also known as the East End Shops) is a big workshop in Roanoke, Virginia. It's where the Norfolk Southern railway company fixes and maintains its trains. For many years, from 1884 to 1953, these shops built 447 steam locomotives. All of these powerful engines were made for the Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W). Some famous steam locomotives built here are still around today. These include Norfolk and Western 611, a fast N&W Class J "Northern" engine built in 1950. Another is Norfolk and Western 1218, a large N&W Class A engine built in 1943. Also, Norfolk and Western 2156, a strong Class Y6A engine, was built in 1942.
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Building the Shops
Before the Roanoke Shops were built, Roanoke was a quiet farming town called Big Lick. It was just a small stop on the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O). Things changed in February 1881. The owners of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad bought the AM&O. They renamed it the Norfolk and Western Railway. They chose Big Lick as the new main meeting point for their train lines.
In 1882, the town grew very quickly. It became the center for the combined railroads. Its name changed to Roanoke, and it soon became a city.
Early Days of the Shops
In October 1881, the Roanoke Machine Works started. This was a group of workshops that would become very large. For about 100 years, it was the biggest employer in the Roanoke Valley. The N&W railway took control of the shops in 1883. The very next year, in 1884, the shops began building locomotives. Over the next nine years, they built 152 locomotives. All of these were for the N&W railway. Then, they stopped building new engines for a while.
Building locomotives started again in 1900. The facility had been renamed the Roanoke Shops in 1897. For the next 53 years, the shops built 295 more locomotives. They also rebuilt parts of two others. From 1927 to 1952, the Roanoke Shops built every single steam locomotive that the N&W railway bought.
Busy Times and Famous Engines
During the 1930s, over 6,000 people worked at the Roanoke Shops. On any given day, they were working on four steam locomotives. They also worked on 20 freight cars. The shops made all kinds of locomotives. They built small engines for moving trains around. They also built the famous, sleek J-class passenger locomotives. These were known for their speed.
The shops also built huge, powerful Y5 and Y6-class engines. These were used to pull heavy coal trains slowly. The A-class engines were built for moving freight quickly.
The Last Steam Locomotive
In late 1953, the Roanoke Shops built its very last locomotive. It was an S1a-class engine, number 244. This was also the last steam locomotive ever made in the United States for use within the country.
The N&W railway stopped using steam locomotives in May 1960. However, two famous engines, J-class No. 611 and A-class No. 1218, were used again. They pulled special excursion trains for people to ride. This happened from the early 1980s until the early 1990s.
Today, No. 1218 is on display. You can see it near where it was built. It's in a special building at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in downtown Roanoke. No. 611 was fixed up and started running again in 2015. It also pulls special trains for people to enjoy. On May 18, 2020, Norfolk Southern closed the Roanoke locomotive shops. All their work was moved to the Juniata Locomotive Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
