PETERSBURG, Va. -- A Virginia couple celebrating a milestone anniversary had a special connection to Sunday’s vintage train ride that ran from Lynchburg and dropped passengers off in historic Old Towne Petersburg.
The 611, a restored Norfolk & Western steam locomotive built in Roanoke in 1950, returned to Old Towne Petersburg this weekend. The "‘Queen of Steam" pulled more than 20 cars when it arrived just before 1 p.m. It made a similar trek on Saturday.
Bob and Cathy Thompson were on board the train. Fifty years ago, the couple left their hometown of Petersburg to elope. Five decades later, they celebrated their anniversary on the rails.
“It was Cathy’s idea and she surprised me with it,” Bob Thompson said. “The last time I rode this train was when it was new.”
To make this anniversary extra special, the pair decided to take more than one day to celebrate their half century of marriage.
“The fun thing about 50th anniversaries is you have pictures to remember what you use to look like and what you turned into after 50 years,” Cathy Thompson said.
The couple, who now live in Bedford, Virginia, still have relatives in Petersburg.
