The 1987 NRHS Convention was held in Roanoke, Virginia. The schedule included an excursion trip from Roanoke to Radford on August 1, 1987. This trip featured N&W 1218 with a coal train and N&W 611 with a passenger train running alongside. N&W Class A 1218 was built by the N&W Roanoke Shop in 1943. She has 70 inch drivers, boiler pressure of 300 lbs, four 24 x 30 inch Cylinders and can deliver 125,897 pounds of tractive effort. This image was captured as N&W 1218 and her train slowly passed the N&W 611 led passenger train.