Virginia Native (Reprise)

My late grandfather, Russell Bussey, was a railroad engineer for Norfolk and Western Railroad. To me, he was a true hero and a legend. He used to engineer the infamous Class J and Class A Locomotives and there's a photo of him in the O. Winston Link Pictorial book "Steam, Steel and Stars. He once had a passenger by the name of Elvis Presley 

He also owned several properties around Roanoke including the property I grew up on and the 125 acres that my parents live on now. I, having lived all around the state of VA and now in Charlotte, NC, can tell you there's nothing quite like that property at the foot of the Blue Ridge. 

Just up the road apiece from Charlotte, in the town of Spencer, NC they recently restored the last remaining Class J number 611 and put it back into excursion service. We took a family ride on it back in the '80s and I also had the privilege of going up into the cab with my grandfather and have him describe to me how it works. 

Sometimes I dream about heading up to Spencer on a day that the 611 is there, hopping on board, pretending my grandfather is at the throttle and going home. Perhaps someday I will.