Table of Contents
Quick Facts
| Year Founded | 1982 |
| Total Track Mileage | 19,420 |
| Total Locomotives | 3,950 |
| Number of Employees | 20,156 |
| Number of States located in | 22 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta Georgia |
| Website | http://www.nscorp.com/ |
Information and History
Norfolk Southern Railway (reporting mark NS) is a class 1 railroad that was formed in 1982 by the merger of the Norfolk & Western Railroad (which over time had absorbed the Wabash Railroad, Nickel Plate Road, Illinois Terminal, Pittsburgh & West Virginia, and Akron Canton & Youngstown Railroad) and the Southern Railway. The merger was mainly motivated by the merger of Chessie System with Seaboard System to form CSX Transportation.
The railroad system expanded by 7,600 miles with the purchase of half of the CONRAIL properties in 1998. CSX received the other half.
The railroad primarily exists in the eastern and southeastern portions of the United States, with its western most endpoint being Kansas City Missouri. It is the primary competitor of CSX.
PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT TRESPASS UPON RAILROAD PROPERTY. NOR TRESSPEASS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE OWNER.
Riding the Line
Norfolk Southern hosts several Amtrak trains.
These include:
Crescent
Lake Shore Limited
Silver Star
Capital Limited
Roanoke
Richmond Newport News Norfolk
Piedmont
Pere Marquette
Pennsylvanian
Blue Water
Wolverine
Special trains and equipment
Up until 1994 Norfolk Southern had an extensive Steam Locomotive excursion train program. This piggybacked on the Southern Railway’s steam program, which Norfolk Southern inherited after the merger. Engine 611 a streamlined Norfolk and Western 4-8-4 was restored to operational status in 1982. Engine 1218, an articulated 2-6-6-4, was restored in 1987.
Both engines toured the system extensively.
In the years after the shutdown of the program, Norfolk Southern has worked with various operators to allow steam trains to operate on their line.
The possibilities of running steam excursions is still a possibility as of this writing.
Check the following web sites to see if there are any excursions planned:
http://www.vmt.org/ 611 page
Norfolk Southern has also paid tribute to all of the predecessor lines by painting several locomotives in heritage paint schemes.
These include:
Central of Georgia (GE ES44AC) #8101
Central Railroad of New Jersey (EMD SD70ACe) #1071
Conrail (“Big Blue”) (GE ES44AC) #8098 (Storage)
Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western (EMD SD70ACe) #1074
Erie (EMD SD70ACe) #1068
Lehigh Valley Railroad (Red) (GE ES44AC) #8104
Illinois Terminal Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1072
Interstate Railroad (GE ES44AC) #8105
Monongahela Railway (GE ES44AC) #8025
New York Central Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1066
Nickel Plate Road (GE ES44AC) #8100
Norfolk & Western (Blue “Hamburger” Logo) (GE ES44AC) #8103
Norfolk Southern (Original) (GE ES44AC) #8114
Penn Central (EMD SD70ACe) #1073
Pennsylvania Railroad (Tuscan Red) (GE ES44AC) #8102
Reading Company (Bee Line) (EMD SD70ACe) #1067
Savannah & Atlanta (Tuxedo Black scheme) (EMD SD70ACe) #1065
Southern (Crescent Green scheme) (GE ES44AC) #8099
Virginian (EMD SD70ACe) #1069
Wabash Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1070
Erie Lackawanna (EMD SD45-2) #1700
Norfolk Southern also owns and maintains several business/passenger cars that can be seen from time to time.
