NS and a CSX engines leading freight together?

Saw this in a yard just North of Newark Liberty Airport. NS engine was the lead with a CSX engine right behind it. Most of the freight cars had CSX markings on them. I thought the two are seperate railroads. Or is this an issue of trackage rights?

The major railroads all have locomotive lease agreements between themselves and their competition to make overall more efficient use of their locomotive fleets. It is not uncommon to see CSX or even farther afield locomotives such as BNSF pulling an NS train or vice versa.

Bobby S wrote:Saw this in a yard just North of Newark Liberty Airport. NS engine was the lead with a CSX engine right behind it. Most of the freight cars had CSX markings on them. I thought the two are separate railroads. Or is this an issue of trackage rights?

You most likely saw a Conrail Shared Assets train. Conrail (CSAO) is basically a terminal railroad in North Jersey (including Philly and Detroit) that is jointly owned by CSX and NS. Since CR does not own any locomotives, engines from CSX and NS are assigned for use on CR's trains.

Thanks for the clear up! Now another quick Q! Who owns the still painted "Conrail Blue" locos? CSX and NS?? Or just one?

Bobby S wrote:Thanks for the clear up! Now another quick Q! Who owns the still painted "Conrail Blue" locos? CSX and NS?? Or just one?

both..
NS and CSX both got a ton of Conrail locos in the 1999 split..
most have been repainted by now, but both railroads still have some units running around in Conrail blue, 10 years later.

Scot

Conrail Shared Assets in Camden frequently pairs NS and CSX locomotives.
Conrail Quality C40-8W 8443 has been on NS trains 38G and 39G recently.
There are usually both CSX and NS engines at Pavonia Enginehouse, and Conrail Blue is commonly seen there.

Black road numbers mean NS ownership, yellow means CSX. It's an easy rule of thumb but not infallible.

I see this quite often on the Reading bridge over the delaware.

- A