In July of 1958 I believe that I saw a N&W Class J 4-8-4 on the ACL main line between Richmond and Petersburg Virginia. The time was around dawn; the engine was southbound and I was looking west. There was quite a glint of sun on the engine since it was sunrise. At the time there was direct passenger service between Norfolk and Richmond. Did N&W locomotives run through to Richmond? I was hoping to see N&W steam on a family trip to Virginia. I saw only a freight powered by leased Pennsy diesels and a N&W diesel which was switching at Waynesboro. The J was my only sight of N&W steam.
You probably didn’t see a Class J. Instead it would have been the streamlined Class K2/K2a. These 4-8-2’s were streamlined to look just like the J’s late in the 40’s. They were also standard power on “The Cannonball” between Petersburg and Richmond running on the ACL mainline.
One afternoon, I was downtown in Bristol, and saw the local come in from Roanoke, I thought at first that the engine was a J, until I saw that it was a Pacific and not a Northern. This was my introduction to the streamlined K2/K2a’s. I saw only J’s on the Tennessean and Pelican; I do not recall what was used on the Birmingham Special, but I doubt that, except in a case of dire need, anything other than a J was used on the heavier trains.
the K was a 4-8-2 mountain , not a pacific. RON