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  • Norfolk Southern Heritage Units.

  • Discussion relating to the NS operations. Official web site can be found here: NSCORP.COM.
Discussion relating to the NS operations. Official web site can be found here: NSCORP.COM.
 #1023075  by blockline4180
 
I was upset that Erie Lackawanna didn't make it, but now that Penn Central isn't there I don't feel too bad anymore!!

Big Kudos to NS for doing this and preserving their past!! :-)
 #1023117  by SR4501
 
HERE IS THE OFFICIAL NEWS FROM NS WEBSITE

http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/ ... itage.html

March 1, 2012

Norfolk Southern celebrates colorful heritage with historic paint schemes
NORFOLK, VA. - Norfolk Southern is honoring its predecessor railroads during 2012, its 30th anniversary year, by painting 18 new locomotives in commemorative schemes that reflect the heritage of those predecessors.

Since the 1820s, hundreds of railroad companies were built, merged, reorganized, and consolidated into what eventually became Norfolk Southern, itself created from the consolidation of Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western Railway in 1982. In 1999, Norfolk Southern expanded the scope of its heritage with its acquisition of a portion of Conrail. The heritage locomotives will represent most of the railroads that played significant roles in Norfolk Southern’s history. The first units will be delivered in March, and all units are expected to be riding the rails by June 1, Norfolk Southern’s 30th anniversary date.

“The heritage locomotives reflect the pride we take in our long and colorful history,” said Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman. “As they travel through our system, these state-of-the-art units in vintage livery will serve as reminders to our customers, employees, and communities that the modern rail network that keeps America competitive today and into the future has deep roots in the nation’s past.”

Each paint scheme will be modified to fit contemporary locomotives while staying as true as possible to the original designs. Norfolk Southern employees in Altoona, Pa., and Chattanooga, Tenn., will paint GE ES44AC locomotives, while the EMD SD70ACe units will be painted at Progress Rail Services’ facility in Muncie, Ind. The heritage locomotives will be used to haul freight across Norfolk Southern’s 20,000-mile, 22-state network.

The predecessor companies to be represented are listed below. In parentheses are the respective roads each became part of (NW=Norfolk & Western, SR=Southern, CR=Conrail) and the make of locomotives to be painted. Images of the color schemes are available on Norfolk Southern’s web site.

•Central of Georgia Railway (SR, GE) was formed in 1833 to connect Macon, Ga., with Savannah, completing a rail link between Chattanooga and the port. It was famed for two passenger trains named after prize-winning race horses, the Nancy Hanks and the Man O’ War.
•Central Railroad of New Jersey (CR, EMD) was the first American railroad to have its employees wear uniforms, and in 1892 one of its locomotives set a world speed record of 105 mph.
•Conrail (GE) was created by the U.S. government in 1976 from the bankrupt Penn Central, Lehigh & Hudson River, Erie Lackawanna, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, Reading and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, becoming the largest railroad at the time, with 34,000 route miles.
•Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (CR, EMD) was created in 1849 to connect the rich anthracite coalfields of the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey. A hurricane in 1955 knocked the railroad out of operation for a month, with the resulting financial difficulties forcing it to merge with the Erie Railroad in 1960 to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.
•Erie Railroad (CR, EMD) was key to economic development along the Southern Tier, which includes Binghamton and Elmira, N.Y. In 1851, Secretary of State Daniel Webster was strapped to a rocking chair on an open flatcar, wrapped in a blanket and clutching a bottle of rum, so he could ride the just-completed railroad.
•Illinois Terminal Railroad (NW, EMD) began life as the Illinois Traction System in 1896 as an interurban electric railroad in central and southern Illinois. Hit by the Great Depression, it was reorganized as the Illinois Terminal in 1937 and attempted to survive as a passenger railroad until relinquishing that business in 1956, when it was acquired by a consortium of railroads. It was operated as a freight railroad until acquired by NW in 1982.
•Interstate Railroad (SR, GE) was incorporated in 1896 to serve southwestern Virginia coalfields. Despite its name, it operated entirely within Virginia. It was acquired by Southern in 1961.
•Lehigh Valley Railroad (CR, GE) was built to haul coal, replacing water transport down the Lehigh River, and was also known as the Route of the Black Diamond.
•New York Central Railroad (CR, EMD) was organized from 10 roads paralleling the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo, N.Y., and became known as the “Water Level Route.” Today, the former NYC line between Cleveland and Chicago is the busiest on the NS system, with more than 100 freight trains daily.
•New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (NW, GE) was commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road, a moniker it acquired when the Norwalk (Ohio) Chronicle referred to it in 1881 as “the great New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad,” supposedly indicative of its solid financial backing.
•Norfolk Southern Railway (SR, EMD) (not to be confused with today’s Norfolk Southern) was a line serving southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina, chartered in 1883 and acquired by Southern Railway in 1974.
•Norfolk & Western Railway (GE) originated as City Point Railroad, a 9-mile road between Petersburg and City Point, Va., in 1836. Following numerous mergers and acquisitions, it became the Norfolk & Western in 1881.
•Pennsylvania Railroad (CR, GE), incorporated in 1846, billed itself as the “Standard Railroad of the World” and was for many years the largest American railroad by tonnage and revenues. PRR opened the Horseshoe Curve railroad engineering marvel; carried President Lincoln to his inauguration; implemented the “line and staff” organizational structure used by business today; built Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan; and electrified the route between New York and Washington, among its many achievements.
•Reading Company (CR, EMD) was one of the first railroads built in America, and built its fortune hauling coal. It featured the first iron railroad bridge in America.
•Savannah & Atlanta Railway (SR, EMD), began life as the Brinson Railway in 1906, slowly expanding from Savannah toward the Northwest. It was consolidated with other small railroads to become the Savannah & Atlanta in 1917. Central of Georgia bought the S&A in 1951.
•Southern Railway (GE) originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. It put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger service on Christmas Day, 1830, with the locomotive “The Best Friend of Charleston.” The Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.
•Virginian Railway (NW, EMD) was the only railroad created through the capital and credit of one man, oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. After building a short line, the Deepwater Railway, to haul coal out of West Virginia and then being blocked by the bigger railroads, he created another railroad, the Tidewater Railway, to reach Norfolk, Va., then combined the two into the Virginian in 1907. It was acquired by N&W in 1959.
•Wabash Railroad (NW, EMD) was formed in 1877 and served the mid-central U.S. It was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1927 and leased to Norfolk & Western in 1960. In 1991, N&W, by then part of Norfolk Southern, purchased the Wabash outright. Made famous by the 1904 song “Wabash Cannonball,” there was in fact no such train by that name until 1949.
 #1023154  by ns3010
 
That's great news!

nsdash9.com reports NS GEVO's 8092-8094 delivered in primer and headed to the paint booth. Additional reports say that 8095 is also on the way to NS.
 #1023157  by Tadman
 
Interesting thought - for most of those railroads, this new locomotive would be a record-setting locomotive in weight and power. But some - VGN and N&W - had both steamers AND electrics that were significantly bigger.
 #1023558  by EJ&ESDM809
 
Although the EL unit did not make the list, the Lackawanna unit will still be painted in the same paint scheme the EL one would've anyways. It doesn't make much sense to have two units wearing the same paint scheme with a "Erie" added to the front of one of them. Drawings of what the units are going to look like can be found here. http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/ ... mages.html
 #1023679  by Mr.S
 
Anyone know of this http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/ ... mages.html Someone in the "buffalo line yahoo groups" has said that there is going to be a Delaware Lackawanna and Western loco..

My comment was Wait a minute D.L. & W? Didn't N.& W. RR's subsidiary DERECO get the ERIE LACKAWANNA, wasn't the D.L. &W. RR long gone by then.. and after DERECO wasn't ownership of ERIE LACKAWANNA transferred to CONRAIL after the fact?
 #1023764  by Ocala Mike
 
It's all in how you define the word "heritage," no? When you search for your ancestry, do you stop at your mother and father?
 #1023829  by GulfRail
 
Tadman wrote:Interesting thought - for most of those railroads, this new locomotive would be a record-setting locomotive in weight and power. But some - VGN and N&W - had both steamers AND electrics that were significantly bigger.
Don't forget the Pennsy and the Erie! The Erie had the Triplexes, while the Pennsy had the Centipedes and the GG-1.
 #1024009  by atsf sp
 
I feel something better would have been chosen than Savannah and Atlanta. It is the old Southern paint with savannah and atlanta written above it. I feel too close to modern NS. I'm glad COG still made it.
 #1024041  by ns3010
 
ns3010 wrote:nsdash9.com reports NS GEVO's 8092-8094 delivered in primer and headed to the paint booth. Additional reports say that 8095 is also on the way to NS.
Now reported that these units are headed to Mid-America Car to be painted under contract into standard horsehead. The heritage units will come later in the order, so as to give NS more time to get supplies ready.
 #1024332  by jmp883
 
I'm as much a railfan as anyone on these forums and while I love the fact that NS is serious about the Heritage repaints I have to wonder if the money could be allocated for more important projects that would enhance operations. In this day and age I have to wonder how many shipping dept. personnel in all the industries that NS serves even know anything at all about railroad history. I'm sure there might be a few railfans working in those industries out there but my gut feeling is that most shippers could care less about how a locomotive is painted. He just wants affordable, timely service or he will look for other shipping options.

That being said I think it's great that NS wants to honor its past but I do hope that these engines are kept spotless. It won't be good for NS publicity if the Heritage units are seen running around with dirty shabby paint.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, nor am I trying to stir things up just for the sake of stirring. I just wonder if there really is going to be a worthwhile return on the investment made with the repaints. It's hard for me to believe any company would spend money on paint schemes that most of the population don't remember, or ever even knew about.
 #1024391  by sportsguy
 
ns3010 wrote:That's great news!

nsdash9.com reports NS GEVO's 8092-8094 delivered in primer and headed to the paint booth. Additional reports say that 8095 is also on the way to NS.
Here is a photo of NS 8092-8095 on their way to be painted.
The photo is not mine.
Image
 #1024770  by jlr3266
 
The engines still need the cost of a paint job. Adapting heritage schemes is just some additional cost. Hardly enough to fund a project. Besides, it is good PR.
 #1024799  by scottychaos
 
Mr.S wrote:Anyone know of this http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/ ... mages.html Someone in the "buffalo line yahoo groups" has said that there is going to be a Delaware Lackawanna and Western loco..

My comment was Wait a minute D.L. & W? Didn't N.& W. RR's subsidiary DERECO get the ERIE LACKAWANNA, wasn't the D.L. &W. RR long gone by then.. and after DERECO wasn't ownership of ERIE LACKAWANNA transferred to CONRAIL after the fact?
DL&W can be considered a NS heritage railroad in two separate ways:

DL&W/EL/Dereco/N&W/NS
DL&W/EL/Conrail/NS

either way, it fits! ;)
and yes, "gone by then" is irrelevant..
if that were the case, they would have to stop at Conrail and not include any of the railroads that made up Conrail,
since the Conrail heritage railroads "were gone by" the time NS took over Conrail..
but that's not how it works..

Scot
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