The Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad is a class III railroad operating in southern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The NPBL serves

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

and has been operating since 1896. It is a Class III terminal switching railroad, incorporated in the State of Virginia as the Southeastern and Atlantic Railroad Company on March 4, 1896, currently operating over 26 miles of road in the Hampton Roads communities of

and

. The Belt Line adopted its current corporate name on January 12, 1898 and acquired and absorbed the Elizabeth River Railroad in 1910. The Belt Line was originally formed by eight railroads: Norfolk & Western, Chesapeake & Ohio, Southern Railway Co., New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk, Atlantic & Danville Railway, Atlantic Coast Line,

Norfolk Southern Railway (1942–1982) The Norfolk Southern Railway(1881-1982) was the final name of a railroad that ran from Norfolk, Virginia, southwest and west to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1974, which merged with the Norfolk and Western ...

, and

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

. The NPBL is owned fifty-seven percent by

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and forty-three percent by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. The NPBL interchanges with;

Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad The Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates of track from Chesapeake, Virginia to Edenton, North Carolina. The railroad was originally part of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, which continued south, crossing the Al ...

, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern. The NPBL is a terminal switching company that owns of track, (plus of trackage rights) and links commerce around the deepwater port from Sewells Point to Portsmouth Marine Terminal, including the Southern Branch Elizabeth River. It currently serves 24 industries. NPBL interchanges rail cars between connecting line haul carriers and various marine terminals and industries located along its tracks. It currently operates one main classification yard located in the

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 197 ...

area of

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

, where its General Office, T&E, and Maintenance of Way facilities are also located. In addition to its own tracks, the NPBL utilizes certain tracks of its owning railroads through trackage rights agreements. Currently all Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line locomotives are provided by Norfolk Southern Corporation. EMD GP38-2 numbe
5260
was painted in a commemorative scheme in 2013.

Locomotive roster

NPBL Locomotive roster
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Virginia railroads CSX Transportation Norfolk Southern Railway Railway companies established in 1898 Switching and terminal railroads