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Norfolk Southern train U85 spans the tall steel trestle in Garwood, W. Va., on a dreary September 27, 2015, on the former Virginian Railway Princeton-Deepwater District. This route was electrified until the merger with Norfolk & Western in 1959. The dismal weather conditions compliment the future of this line, as NS looks to shift coal trains to adjacent routes in its Pocahontas Division network as a result of a weakening domestic coal market. While the line itself will not be abandoned, heavy tonnage coal trains will be routed via the Guyandotte and Gilbert branches to gain access to the railroad’s Elmore Yard in West Virginia. PHOTO BY CHASE GUNNOE
sometimes three, sections of these trains have been seen daily. While UP and NS also operate an eastbound intermodal train consisting entirely of international shipping containers three times weekly between Los Angeles and Atlanta, the frequency and numbers of these trains have not increased.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN SCOTT LINDSEY
D&H South Acquisition Complete
Norfolk Southernn’s acquisition of the
Delaware & Hudson Railway’s southerly lines from Canadian Pacific was closed on Friday, September 18. As a result, the former D&H territory from Sunbury, Pa., to Schenectady, N.Y., is now part of NS’s Harrisburg Division. CP no longer has trackage rights on NS between Buffalo and Binghamton, N.Y. In Pennsylvania, CP also terminated trackage rights be- yond Sunbury to Bethlehem and Allen- town. However, NS will provide haulage for CP to the shortlines with which it
had historically connected, such as the Reading & Northern at Taylor. “The D&H South Line integrates per-
fectly into our 22-state rail system, and it allows NS to connect businesses along this important economic corridor with a rail transportation system that’s a top performer in safety and efficiency,” said NS President and CEO James A. Squires. “Our acquisition will make NS a more competitive transportation op- tion between Pennsylvania, New York, and New England.” NS and CP have arranged new routes involving NS for all traffic originating on Canadian Pacific and destined to NS sta- tions on the D&H lines sold. In general, any traffic from Quebec, the Maritimes, and northern New York State will be in- terchanged at Schenectady. Traffic from between Ontario and Illinois will inter- change at Buffalo, while traffic from western Canada and the U.S. west of Illinois will use Chicago. One of the first through trains to make
use of the newly acquired route was Train M1R operating from Enola, Pa. to East Deerfield, Mass., connecting with service on Pan Am Southern.
Georgia Collision Investigation
During September, NS transportation department leadership was still investigating the August head-on collision of two trains on the Georgia Division, and examining how best to prevent such future incidents. This follows a rear-end collision during July in Virginia and a narrowly averted head-on collision days later near Sugar Valley, Ga. The third event occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m. on August 7, 2015, when eastbound intermodal Train 208-06 (Atlanta-Savannah) collided with westbound local train G23-07 near Tennille, Ga. The trains were operating in single
track non-signaled, Rule 171 territory, dispatched by track authorities. A track authority gave Train 208 permission to depart from Tennille siding after the ar- rival of the G23. However, Train 208 de- parted Tennille before the arrival of the G23, resulting in a head-on collision at milepost S-130, approximately five miles east of Tennille. Both crews placed their trains in emergency and jumped prior to
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