HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31,250 km) in 22 eastern states, the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
, and has rights in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
over the Albany to
Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. NS is responsible for maintaining , with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance. Intermodal containers and trailers are the most common commodity type carried by NS, which have grown as coal business has declined throughout the 21st century; coal was formerly the largest source of traffic. The railway offers the largest intermodal rail network in eastern North America. NS was also the pioneer of Roadrailer service. Norfolk Southern and its chief competitor, CSX Transportation, have a duopoly on the transcontinental freight rail lines in the Eastern United States. NS has long been a major transporter of domestic and export coal, though this business has declined in the 21st century in favor of intermodal traffic. The railway's major sources of the mineral are located in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
's
Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period ...
and
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
counties, as well as the
Monongahela Valley The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-cen ...
;
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
; and the Appalachia regions of
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 are ...
, Kentucky, and
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
. Coal transported by NS is then exported to steel mills and power plants around the world. Norfolk Southern is the namesake and leading subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, based in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
; it was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia until 2021. Norfolk Southern Corporation was incorporated in Virginia on July 23, 1980 and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol ''NSC''. The primary business function of Norfolk Southern Corporation is the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods across the Southeast, East, and Midwest United States. The corporation further facilitates transport to the remainder of the United States through interchange with other rail carriers while also serving overseas transport needs by serving several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. As of April 10, 2019, Norfolk Southern Corporation's total public stock value was slightly over $51.6 billion.


History


Predecessors

Norfolk Southern's predecessor railroads date to the early 19th century. The SOU's earliest predecessor line was the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road. Chartered in 1827, the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company became the first to offer regularly scheduled passenger train service with the inaugural run of the '' Best Friend of Charleston'' in 1830. Another early predecessor, the Richmond & Danville Railroad (R&D), was formed in 1847 and expanded into a large system after the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
under Algernon S. Buford. The R&D ultimately fell on hard times and in 1894, it became a major portion of the new Southern Railway (SOU). Financier J. P. Morgan selected veteran railroader Samuel Spencer as president. Profitable and innovative, Southern became, in 1953, the first major U.S. railroad to completely switch to diesel-electric locomotives from steam. The City Point Railroad, established in 1838, was a railroad in Virginia that started south of
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...
— specifically, City Point on the navigable portion of the James River, now part of the independent city of Hopewell — and ran to Petersburg. It was acquired by the South Side Railroad in 1854. After the Civil War, it became part of the
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O) was formed in 1870 in Virginia from three east–west railroads which traversed across the southern portion of the state. Organized and led by former Confederate general William Mahone (1826-189 ...
(AM&O), a trunk line across Virginia's southern tier formed by mergers in 1870 by William Mahone, who had built the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad in the 1850s. The AM&O was the oldest portion of the Norfolk & Western (N&W) when it was formed in 1881, under new owners with a keen interest and financial investments in the
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
fields of Western Virginia and West Virginia, a product which came to define and enrich the railroad. In the second half of the 20th century, the N&W acquired the Virginian Railway (1959), the Wabash Railway, and the
Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylv ...
, among others.


Formation

In 1980, the Norfolk Southern Corporation was created as a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
for the Southern Railway (SOU, formed in 1894) and Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W, formed in 1881). In 1982, the Southern Railroad was given the new name of the Norfolk Southern Railway, an older line acquired by SOU in 1974, that primarily served
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
and the southeastern tip of
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 are ...
; following this, Norfolk and Western was merged into the company, forming one, united, railroad. Headquarters for the new NS were established in Norfolk, Virginia. The company suffered a slight embarrassment when the marble headpiece at the building's entrance was unveiled, which read "Norfork Southern Railway". A new headpiece replaced the erroneous one several weeks later. NS aimed to compete in the eastern United States with CSX Transportation, formed after the Interstate Commerce Commission's 1980 approval of the merger of the
Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated under ...
and the Seaboard System.


Conrail purchase

The system grew with the acquisition of over half of Conrail. The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) was an system formed in 1976 from the Penn Central Railroad (1968–1976), and five other ailing northeastern railroads that were conveyed into it, forming a government-financed corporation. Conrail was perhaps the most controversial conglomerate in corporate history. Penn Central itself was created by merging three venerable rivals — the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR, 1846), the New York Central Railroad (NYC, 1831), and the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
(NYNH&H, 1872) — as well as some smaller competitors. In 1980, Conrail had become profitable after the Staggers Act largely deregulated the U.S. railroad industry. In 1996,
CSX 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 trac ...
bid to buy Conrail; Norfolk Southern, fearing that CSX would come to dominate rail traffic in the eastern U.S., responded with a bid of its own. On June 23, 1997, NS and CSX filed a joint application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for authority to purchase, divide, and operate the assets of Conrail. On June 6, 1998, the STB approved the NS-CSX application, effective August 22, 1998. NS acquired 58% of Conrail assets, including about of track, most of which was part of the former Pennsylvania Railroad. CSX got the remaining 42%. NS began operating its trains on its portion of the former Conrail network on June 1, 1999, closing out the 1990s merger era.


21st century

In 2016, a proposed merger that had been months in the pipeline with Canadian Pacific was abandoned abruptly. The proposed merger would have seen the joining of two companies worth over $20 billion each. According to NS's 2018 Annual Report to Investors, at the end of 2018, NS had more than 26,000 employees, 4,100 locomotives, and 54,400 freight cars. At the end of 2018, the transport of coal made up 16% of the total operating revenue of NS, general merchandise (automotive, chemicals, metals, construction materials, agriculture commodities, consumer products, paper, clay, and forest products) made up 59%, and intermodal made up 25% of the total. Norfolk Southern has since slimmed its fleet to roughly 3,950 locomotives. On December 12, 2018, Norfolk Southern announced that it would be relocating its headquarters to
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
; leaving its hometown of Norfolk after 38 years. The new headquarters building was opened on November 10, 2021.


Company officers

* John P. Fishwick, Sr. ** CEO and President of Norfolk Western Railroad: 1970-1980 ** CEO and President of Norfolk Southern Railroad: 1980-1981 *
Robert B. Claytor Robert Buckner Claytor (February 27, 1922 – April 9, 1993) was an American railroad administrator. He became President of the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1981 and was instrumental in the merger of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk & Weste ...
** CEO: 1982 – 1987 * Arnold B. McKinnon ** CEO and President: 1987 – 1992 *
David R. Goode David R. Goode (born 1941, Vinton, Virginia) is the retired Chairman, President, and CEO of Norfolk Southern Corporation (holding company engaged principally in surface transportation). Other directorships: Caterpillar Inc.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; ...
: **CEO: 1992 – 2005 **President: 1991 – 2004 * Charles "Wick" Moorman: **CEO: 2005 – 2015 **President: 2004 – 2013 *
James A. Squires James A. Squires is an American railroad executive who was the president, chief executive officer, and executive chairman of Norfolk Southern Railway until his retirement on May 1, 2022. (He left the presidency on December 1, 2021.) Squires was bo ...
: **President: June 1, 2013 – December 2021 **CEO: June 1, 2015 – Present *Alan H. Shaw **President: December 2021 – Present


Current trackage


Regional divisions

Norfolk Southern is divided into 3 operation regions, each containing 2 divisions. * Southern Region ** Gulf Division ** Coastal Division * Central Region ** Midwest Division ** Blue Ridge Division * Northern Region ** Great Lakes Division ** Keystone Division


Premier Corridor

The Premier Corridor is Norfolk Southern's principal east–west line from the East Coast to the Midwest. An average day sees 40-60 trains of all types. The main (New York to Chicago) segment of the corridor consists of the Lehigh Line, Reading Line, Harrisburg Line, Pittsburgh Line, Fort Wayne Line, Cleveland Line, and Chicago Line.


Chicago Bypass


Meridian Speedway


Pan Am Southern/Patriot Corridor

On May 15, 2008, NS announced that it would join with Pan Am Railways to create the "Patriot Corridor", an improved rail route between
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...
, and the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. On March 12, 2009, STB approved the deal. Each of the two companies now owns 50% of a new company known as Pan Am Southern (PAS). PAR's trackage between Ayer, Massachusetts, and Mechanicville, New York, was transferred to PAS, and continues to be operated and maintained by PAR's Springfield Terminal Railway Company subsidiary. NS transferred to PAS cash and property valued at $140 million. The railroad operates 22K and 23K from Mechanicville, NY to Ayer, MA. Due to the unique ACSES PTC system used on Keolis-operated trackage, which the 22K and 23K runs on between Wachusett and Ayer, only specific SD60E locomotives equipped with ACSES can lead trains. In 2021, CSX announced its intention to purchase Pan Am Railways. Norfolk Southern protested, arguing that CSX, which would own 50% of Pan Am Southern, would be able to block Norfolk Southern out of the northeast. As part of the Surface Transportation Board merger requirements, CSX will give NS limited trackage rights to run intermodal trains, and Pan Am Southern will be operated by the
Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad The Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad , also known as the Shawmut Line, was a short line railroad company operating passenger and freight service on standard gauge track in central and southwestern Pennsylvania. Since 2004, it has been operated as ...
, under the name
Berkshire and Eastern Railroad Berkshire and Eastern Railroad (B&E) is a shortline railroad in New England and New York, using tracks owned by Pan Am Southern. Pan Am Southern is jointly owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). Following CSXT's pur ...
.


Yards and facilities

Largely an eastern U.S. railway, NS directly owns and operates of track in 22 states. It operates four primary hubs in its system: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
, and
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
and maintains facilities across the Eastern US to facilitate operations, including rail classification yards, intermodal yards, and locomotive shops NS has rights to operate its trains with its own crews on competing railroads' tracks. These trackage rights permit NS to operate as far west as
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, on BNSF Railway tracks, as far north as Waterville, Maine, and as far south as
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. NS locomotives also occasionally operate on competitors' tracks throughout the U.S. and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
due to the practice of locomotive leasing and sharing undertaken by the Class I railroads. Not including second, third, and fourth main line trackage, yards, and sidings, NS directly operates of track. In addition, NS has direct control over approximately .


General freight classification yards


Intermodal classification yards


Locomotive shops

NS also shares interest with CSX in the
Oak Island Yard Oak Island Yard is a freight rail yard located north of Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and Newark International Airport in an industrial area of Ironbound, Newark, New Jersey at 91 Bay Ave., United States. The sprawling complex includes ...
, managed by Conrail Shared Assets Operations in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
.


Environmental record

On January 6, 2005, a NS derailment resulted in a large amount of chlorine and diesel fuel being released into nearby waterways in
Graniteville, South Carolina Graniteville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,614 at the 2010 census. It lies along U.S. Route 1, west of Aiken in Horse Creek Valley, which originates in the nearby town o ...
. In addition, a toxic cloud covered the city resulting in the town being evacuated. Federal
common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
laws prevent railroads from refusing to transport chlorine and similar Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH) commodities. Local wildlife was killed, many of the local crops and vegetation were contaminated or killed, nine human deaths were reported, and thousands were injured. The company was taken to court and fined for violating the Clean Water Act and the Federal Superfund law. NS spent a total of $26 million for the cleanup. In early spring of 2008, the state program manager for air quality planning in Georgia, Jimmy Johnston, had been talking to NS about voluntary upgrades to reduce the company's environmental impact. NS is upgrading 3,800 of its locomotives with new technology that is 73 percent more efficient than previous models. The new technology being put into the locomotives is making the ride more fuel efficient and reducing idle time. NS has also introduced an experimental battery-electric switcher locomotive, NS 999. This prototype locomotive was developed by Norfolk Southern, in collaboration with the
United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States ...
, the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail sa ...
and the Pennsylvania State University.


Labor relations

In 2019, Norfolk Southern made a plan to lay off over 3,500 workers as a result of
precision railroading Precision railroading or precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is a concept in freight railroad operations pioneered by E. Hunter Harrison in 1993, and adopted by nearly every North American Class I railroad. It shifts the focus from older pract ...
.


Locomotives and rolling stock


Paint and colors

NS's locomotives are often called "catfish" by railfans, as the stripes are said to look like catfish whiskers. The current "Horsehead" paint scheme for NS locomotives is black and white, with yellow grab irons and step-edge highlights. Locomotives feature a rearing horse decal enclosed in the "catfish" stripes on both the nose and rear, which is consistent with marketing campaigns where NS has billed itself as "The Thoroughbred of Transportation". The first few AC44C6Ms features a special version of the Horsehead scheme, which is painted for the D.C. To A.C. Project. The others retain the regular paint job. The GE AC44C6Ms are rebuilt from GE Dash 9-40Cs. In 1994, EMD GP59 No. 4610 was painted in predecessor Southern colors of green and white with gold trim and was a favorite of railfans. The locomotive was repainted in the Norfolk Southern "Operation Lifesaver" paint in February 2012 because of ES44AC #8099 also being in Southern paint. Norfolk Southern painted 20 new-order ES44ACs and SD70ACes in commemorative heritage paint schemes as part of NS's 30th anniversary celebration in 2012 (more info below in the "Heritage Schemes" section). Norfolk Southern also has many locomotives painted in various versions of the Operation Lifesaver scheme. In February 2015, Norfolk Southern unveiled restored NS 3170 in the Southern Railway "Tuxedo" paint scheme. The 3170 is a SD40, the first ordered by the Southern Railway and was retired by Norfolk Southern in 2007. In September 2015, SD45-2 1700 was unveiled wearing its original Erie Lackawanna paint. Another SD40, NS 1580, was set aside for repaint into its original Norfolk and Western paint scheme; however, as of January 2017, it has yet to be repainted. As of 2020, there is still no information on where #1580 will go when it is donated. In January 2015, the first of the state-funded "ECO Class" units – painted in a two-tone green, white, and black paint scheme – was completed. "ECO" locomotives thus far (January 2017) include GP33ECO and SD33ECO; additionally, these units come with 'slug' types: RP-M4C (GP33ECO) and RPU6D (SD33ECO). In November 2011, Norfolk Southern unveiled SD60E 6920 – painted in a blue, red, white and black "Honoring our Veterans" paint scheme. In March 2013, Norfolk Southern released NS SD60E 6963, which was painted in a special paint scheme for "GORAIL." In May 2015, Norfolk Southern unveiled another SD60E, number 911 – painted in a red, white, and gold, "Honoring First Responders" paint scheme.


Locomotives

A large majority of Norfolk Southern's locomotives come from the company's many predecessors, which include but are not limited to Norfolk and Western, Southern Railway, and Conrail. Of the engines from Norfolk and Western (NW) and Southern, many were equipped with high short hoods. Although these locomotives are aging, some 'high hoods' still remain on the roster as of April 2020. Norfolk Southern has drastically reduced the number of them by scrapping, rebuilding, or selling them. Historically, NS has only purchased DC traction diesel locomotives, and was one of the last North American AC-traction hold-outs aside from Canadian National Railway. In September 2008, however, NS placed its first order for new AC traction locomotives: 23 GE ES44ACs, numbered 8000-8023. In the years since, NS has purchased several more ES44ACs as well as over 150 EMD SD70ACes. Beginning in 2012, Norfolk Southern began to take delivery of several types of older EMD locomotives from various railroads and leasing companies, including 9 ex-BNSF "tri-clops" SD60Ms, 6 ex-ATSF (BNSF) SD75Ms, the remaining 12 ex- Conrail SD80MACs owned by
CSX 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 trac ...
, a majority of Union Pacific's SD9043MACs, and more than 130 SD40-2's from First Union Rail, CIT Group, and Helm Leasing. Norfolk Southern is the only railroad ever to own SD80MACs and SD90MACs simultaneously. Norfolk Southern owned all of the SD80MACs and 110 of the SD90MACs from Union Pacific. Norfolk Southern also acquired 10 SD90MACs from CIT Group in exchange for 15 MP15DCs. The SD90MACs have been rebuilt into SD70ACUs. By late 2021, the SD80MACs were been sold (most scrapped), and most of the EMD SD70ACus were sold. Norfolk Southern has a very large program for re-cabbing locomotives. NS has its own designed "Admiral Cab," which they use on their 'standard cab' rebuilds. NS has rebuilt GP38-2s, SD40-2s, ECO units, and many more with the Admiral Cab. In 2015, Norfolk Southern began a program to convert their reliable, but aging GE Dash 8-40Cs into Dash 8.5-40CW units (NS calls them D8.5-40CW). The few units that were upgraded included new cabs, rebuilt and modified engine, electrical upgrades and more. Due to repeated failures, the program was deemed unsuccessful in 2016, and ET44AC units were ordered to replace the un-rebuildable 8-40Cs. The Dash 8.5s have since been sold. In 2016, NS bought 46 GE ET44AC Locomotives, also known as Tier 4 Locomotives, numbered 3600-3646. These are the first Tier 4 road engines purchased, and not immediately stored, by NS. Norfolk Southern purchased 34 more units, delivered in 2017. The ET44ACs were purchased as the replacement for the Dash 8-40C units, all of which were sold shortly after the ET44ACs entered service. They were the first order of new locomotives from NS since late 2014, when
EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
Tier 4 requirements were put in place. In 2016, Norfolk Southern began a rebuild program on the Dash 9-40C units. The rebuild involved overhaul of the engine, emissions upgrades, a new cab (featuring GE Trip Optimizer, PTC, and NS Cab Signals / Locomotive Speed Limiter), new electronics, DPU and ECP capabilities, increased weight, and an electric parking brake. Norfolk Southern has rebuilt all the C40-9 "Top Hats" and some of the Dash 9-44CWs. The new locomotives are being classified as GE AC44C6M.


Heritage fleet

In the first half of 2012, Norfolk Southern painted 10 EMD SD70ACes and 10 GE ES44ACs as special heritage units, each bearing the paint schemes and markings of the various predecessor railroads of Norfolk Southern and Conrail. On July 1–3, 2012, all 20 units gathered together at the
North Carolina Transportation Museum The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much o ...
at
Spencer, North Carolina Spencer is a town in Rowan County, North Carolina, United States, incorporated in 1905. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 3,267. History The town was named for Samuel Spencer, first president of the Southern Railway, who is credi ...
, as the highlight of NS's 30th-anniversary celebration. The locomotives have since traveled throughout the United States on various Class I railroads as run-through pool power, attracting much attention from railfans. The Heritage Units include:


Steam excursion programs

After the 1982 merger, NS President Robert Claytor retained the Southern Railway's steam excursion program begun in the 1960s by his brother, SOU president W. Graham Claytor. NS initially used former
Chesapeake and Ohio 2716 The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway No. 2716 is a class "K-4" 2-8-4 "Kanawha" (Berkshire) type steam locomotive built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). While most railroads referred to these 2 ...
, which had been modified and decorated as a Southern locomotive for the steam program; however the engine developed with mechanical problems in her fire box after less than a year in excursion service and was replaced by Nickel Plate 765. Merging with the Norfolk & Western Railway prompted the steam program to acquire and overhaul Norfolk & Western 611 in 1982, and
Norfolk & Western 1218 Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight lo ...
in 1987. These two locomotives and 765 joined the steam program veterans –
Southern Railway 4501 Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 19 ...
, Savannah and Atlanta Railway 750, Nickel Plate 587, Louisville & Nashville 152, Atlanta and West Point 290,
Tennessee Valley Railroad 610 Tennessee Valley Railroad No. 610 is a coal-burning S160 Class 2-8-0 " Consolidation" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation for the U.S. Army in March 1952. It is one of the last steam locomotives built for serv ...
, and Frisco 1522 – for an extensive series of excursions throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Norfolk Southern's management under David R. Goode was forced to end the program in late 1994 citing safety concerns, rising insurance costs, the expense of maintaining the steam locomotives, and decreasing rail network availability due to a surge in freight traffic. On December 3, 1994, the 611 became the last steam locomotive running on Norfolk Southern's trackage, running her last steam-powered excursion round-trip between
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...
, and
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
. After that, the 611 went on a three-day ferry move from Birmingham to Roanoke, Virginia.. She stopped at
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
, for the night on December 5 and next to
Salisbury, NC Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropoli ...
the next day on December 6. Finally, the 611 departed Salisbury and continued her final trip. When the locomotive arrived back in Roanoke, 611 had its fire put out for the last time. In June 2010, Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman announced that NS would run excursions with Southern Railway 4501,
Southern Railway 630 Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operat ...
, and U.S. Army 610 with their new
21st Century Steam The 21st Century Steam program was conducted by the Norfolk Southern Railway from 2011 to 2015, featuring four classic steam locomotives pulling passenger excursions along Norfolk Southern rails in the eastern United States. The last train was to be ...
program. The program began in 2011 with excursions in the south powered by 630 and in the north by 765. On February 22, 2013, the Virginia Museum of Transportation (611's owner) formed a campaign called "Fire Up 611!" to conduct a feasibility study with the goal of returning the 611 to active service and have it join the program. The locomotive was removed from her static display from the Virginia Museum of Transportation to the
North Carolina Transportation Museum The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much o ...
in 2014 to be overhauled. That same year, TVRM completed their restoration of
Southern Railway 4501 Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 19 ...
– joining the 21st Century Steam program for the 2015 season and pulling excursions in Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia. The restoration of 611 was completed in May 2015 and celebrated with a run to Roanoke, Virginia, where it was originally built. The 611 pulled several excursions in Virginia and was featured in special events at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. In December 2015, Norfolk Southern had concluded their program; however, the 611 continued to run various excursions, hosted by the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the North Carolina Transportation Museum instead of Norfolk Southern across the NS system in
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 are ...
and
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
. Norfolk Southern currently limits the steam locomotives up to on their system.


Rolling stock


Reporting marks

Although it has been widely known as simply "Norfolk Southern" since 1982, the corporate structure and reporting marks are more complicated. In 1999, when most of Conrail's former PRR trackage was sold to the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Pennsylvania Railway Lines was created and PRR reporting marks used on the former Conrail motive power and rolling stock.


Television commercials

On September 3, 2007, NS launched a television ad featuring a family of gas cans trekking to meet a NS train, meant to underscore the railroad's role in reducing highway congestion. Shot in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, it features the song "You Don't Need Me" written and performed for NS by Ravi Krishnaswami of New York and
Steve Kolander Steve Kolander (born November 15, 1961) is an American country music artist. He debuted in 1994 with the release of his self-titled album on River North Records River North Records was a Chicago-based record company. It was a subsidiary of ...
of Atlanta. On
National Train Day National Train Day was a holiday started by Amtrak in 2008 as a method to spread information to the general public about the advantages of railway travel and the history of trains in the United States. It was held each year on the Saturday closest ...
in May 2013, NS premiered a new ad series, using music adapted from "
Conjunction Junction ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The theme ...
" from ABC's School House Rock series, and showing an overhead view of Inman Rail Yard in Atlanta.


Awards and recognition

From 1989 to 2012, NS won the Gold (first-place)
E.H. Harriman Award The E.H. Harriman Award was an annual award presented to United States, American rail transport, railroad companies in recognition for outstanding occupational safety and health, safety achievements. History The award was founded in 1913 by Mary W ...
in Group A (line-haul railroads whose employees worked 15 million employee-hours or more) every single year. The award, which recognized the railroads with the lowest casualty rates per 200,000 employee-hours, was discontinued in 2012. In January 2011, NS Chairman and CEO Wick Moorman was named Railroader of the Year by '' Railway Age'' magazine. George Vandergriff, along with Wick Moorman, were two of the honorary inductees of the inaugural NS Hall of Fame class.


See also

* History of railroads in Michigan *
Southern Railway's Spencer Shops Southern Railway's Spencer Shops was once a major steam locomotive repair facility between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. in Spencer, North Carolina.
(now a museum in Salisbury, North Carolina) * List of Norfolk Southern predecessor railroads *
Thoroughbred Shortline Program The Thoroughbred Shortline Program was a system of shortline creation devised by Norfolk Southern in the late 1980s. It involved an alternative to the typical practice of a Class I railroad selling rail lines outright to shortlines in the post-Sta ...


Improvement projects

*
Crescent Corridor The Crescent Corridor is a railroad corridor operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The project, first proposed in 2007, and scheduled for completion by 2020, spans 13 states from New York to Louisiana. It is a private-public partnersh ...
- Louisiana to New Jersey * Heartland Corridor - Midwest to Norfolk


References


Bibliography

* *


Further reading

*


External links

*
Norfolk Southern system map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk Southern Railway Companies based in Norfolk, Virginia Rail in Greater St. Louis Virginia railroads West Virginia railroads Alabama railroads Delaware railroads Washington, D.C., railroads Florida railroads Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Indiana railroads Iowa railroads Kansas railroads Kentucky railroads Louisiana railroads Maryland railroads Massachusetts railroads Michigan railroads Mississippi railroads Missouri railroads New Jersey railroads New York (state) railroads North Carolina railroads Ohio railroads Ontario railways Pennsylvania railroads South Carolina railroads Tennessee railroads Vermont railroads Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area Companies operating former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad lines Companies operating former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines Companies operating former Central Railroad of New Jersey lines Companies operating former Chicago and North Western Transportation Company lines Companies operating former Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad lines Companies operating former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad lines Companies operating former Erie Railroad lines Companies operating former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad lines Companies operating former Illinois Central Railroad lines Companies operating former Lehigh Valley Railroad lines Companies operating former Louisville and Nashville Railroad lines Companies operating former Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad lines Companies operating former Missouri Pacific Railroad lines Companies operating former New York Central Railroad lines Companies operating former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad lines Companies operating former Pennsylvania Railroad lines Companies operating former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines lines Companies operating former Reading Company lines Companies in the Dow Jones Transportation Average Economy of the Eastern United States Class I railroads in North America Railway companies established in 1982 Illinois railroads