Railfan & Railroad Photo Line

Photo Line: An Evening With Norfolk & Western 429

In January 2025, the Strasburg, Dynamo Productions and the O. Winston Link Museum teamed up to recreate the Norfolk & Western in the 1950s. The star of the show was N&W 475, dressed up as sister locomotive 429. 

Photo Line: An Evening With Norfolk & Western 429

Story and Photos by Daniel Smutek

Norfolk & Western 429 — a popular subject of O. Winston Link’s photography — appeared alive and well six decades after being scrapped in January 2025 during an event hosted at the Strasburg Rail Road. Its resurrection came through the cosmetic alteration of its living sister, Strasburg Railroad 475, a 1906 Baldwin 4-8-0 built for mixed service. The locomotive starred in a night photo charter dedicated to recreating some of Link’s work. Dynamo Productions and the O. Winston Link Museum coordinated the event and invited photographers and videographers to shoot 429 pulling a mixed consist. The train posed for long exposures and performed run-bys at several locations along the Strasburg meant to represent sites found along N&W lines in southwestern Virginia and North Carolina.

Despite wind chills, ice and temperatures in the teens, all hosting parties put on a memorable show for everyone. This also marked the first time 475 posed as sister 429. Previous photo charters dedicated to replicating O. Winston Link’s work featured the 475 as another popular sister, the 382.

Back From The Dead

Strasburg Railroad’s ex-Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 475 took on the appearance of a scrapped sister engine for a night photo charter on Jan. 11. Locomotive 429 often appeared in O. Winston Link’s photography.

N&W Flyover

A steam-era N&W logo adorns the Pumpkinville Turnpike Bridge where Extra 429 is stopped for long exposures at blue hour. An acting couple poses on the dirt road below with a freshly-cut Christmas tree.

 

Name Game

Extra 429 makes a station stop at “Nella,” a North Carolina town once defined by a large general store featured in Link’s photos. Locals referred to it as “Husk,” but the N&W named it in their timetables after an employee. The location shown above is actually the Groff’s Picnic Grove at Cherry Hill siding. 

February 8, 1957

N&W 429 takes the yellow signal east after everyone has boarded at Nella. A scene titled “February 8, 1957” inspired this one, but featured a much larger A-Class 2-6-6-4 passing under a towering semaphore.

Time Machines Meet

A 1958 Fairlane 500 meets the 1906 “Mollie” at the Esbenshade Road grade crossing. Given the latter’s model year, this scene likely replicates one from the last days of the N&W’s M-Class.

The Popes

A young couple admires the fleeting image of N&W 429 from their back porch. The same couple from the N&W bridge returned to pose for this scene, which is  inspired by another popular Link photo titled, “The Popes, Max Meadows, VA, 1957.” 

Blacksburg

One hour before midnight, N&W 429 makes a steamy entrance into Blacksburg Depot. Similar to Cinderella’s coach, the 429 will fade back into history come midnight. The Blacksburg depot shown above is actually a former Reading Railroad station built in 1882 and moved to its current location in 1960.

This article was posted on: January 30, 2025