Carl Jensen, manager of NS steam program, dies

Carl Jensen, manager of the Norfolk Southern Steam Program from 1986 to 1994, died on March 25, 2024, in Roanoke, Va. He was 87.

His leadership was instrumental in guiding the program, and the travels of locomotives Nos. 611 and 1218, almost to its end. He also had a lengthy association with the National Railway Historical Society, beginning in late 1950s when he joined the C.P. Huntington Chapter.

“To have served the Steam Program as one of its managers was the closest to an ideal job that I could have wished for,” Jensen wrote in 2000 in the forward to the book “Steam’s Camelot” by the late Trains editor Jim Wrinn. “It gave me great personal satisfaction and pleasure. … It is a rare privilege for anyone to have the opportunity during his or her lifetime to be a part of an activity which captures his deepest interests and experience. Those of use lucky enough to have shared this were very fortunate.”

Jensen, who succeeded Jim Bistline in leading the steam program, authored an unforgettable moment at the 1987 NRHS annual convention in Roanoke, arranging the side-by-side operation of Class J No. 611 and Class A No. 1218 — newly returned to operation after a lengthy restoration — in a surprise for those riding an Aug. 1 excursion. The concept had been discussed almost in jest, but Jensen thought it was an exciting idea and took it to NS CEO Robert B. Claytor.

His efforts to make the steam program a success, and make the cars and locomotives more reliable, were backed by a fine steam shop and crew. That effort was challenged in late September 1994, when the excursion train, parked for the night in Lynchburg, Va., was backed into by a piggyback train. While cars were damaged, No. 611 was untouched; Jensen rented passenger cars from several sources to conclude the season, with only one weekend of trips cancelled as a result.

Management, however, decided to shut down the program in late October, allowing the conclusion of the already scheduled season, but no farewell trip. Jensen left the program and finished his career in the NS Safety Department. The final steam excursion, a Dec. 3 trip between Birmingham, Ala., and Chattanooga, Tenn., ran shortly after his departure [see “The walk of a queen,” Trains Magazine, March 1995].

Jensen had played a significant role in the steam program when it was led by Bistline. That included a trial by fire in 1986, when a defective switch led to the derailment of an employee special powered by No. 611 out of Norfolk, Va., that May. More than 200 people were injured, 18 seriously, and three of the 14 cars that derailed were ruled to be beyond repair [see “NS in the swamp,” “News & Editorial Comment,” Trains Magazine, August 1986]. While stories circulated that it would be the end of excursion trains on NS, Claytor elected to continue the program, and named Jensen as Bistline’s successor when Bistline retired at the end of that season.

Jensen was born April 23, 1936, in Middletown, Ohio. After graduating from Penn State University, Jensen began his railroad career with Norfolk & Western in June 1959, hiring out as a clerk in the General Agent’s office in Portsmouth, Ohio, and moved to Cleveland in February 1960. Carl became a traveling freight agent based in Chicago in 1963 before arriving in Roanoke in early 1965 as an industrial development department industrial economist and was then appointed assistant manager of special services late that same year. Not long afterward, Carl became assistant manager of equipment sales and then moved on to his longer-term home in the training department, where he rose to manager.

Jensen became the first vice president of a re-formed Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS in 1968, becoming its president a year later and its long-serving national director (or representative) in 1971, and gaining prominence in the national organization. His behind-the-scenes work included acquiring the chapter’s first passenger equipment in summer 1968, and a lot of mechanical work on that equipment.

His rise in the NRHS national organization continued as he participated in Roanoke Chapter management. Jensen worked with the Claytor brothers to help make excursions happen on the N&W and lent his voice to assist in planning these trips. Carl would suggest to the Southern an operation of one-way ferry moves of the steam excursion train, which would be dubbed by Bill Carson the “Independence Limiteds,” with the Roanoke Chapter planning and operation. These trips first began in the early 1970s and ran most years up to 1993. They were a success due to excellent planning and railroad cooperation.

Jensen is survived by Carol, his wife of 64 years; two sons, Chuck and wife Virginia of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Ken and wife Shirley of Penhook, Va.,; four grandsons, Daniel, Samuel, Joseph, and Keith; and twin brothers, David and wife Peg of Troy, Va., and Erik and wife Ilona of Mechanisville, Va.

Visitation is set for this Sunday, March 31, at Oakey’s North Chapel, 6732 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke, from 4-7 p.m., with funeral on Monday, April 1 at 11 a.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (1008 Franklin Road SW, Roanoke). Interment will follow at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens, Airport Road, in Roanoke.

— Updated March 28 at 7:25 a.m. CDT with additional information.