Roundabout route explains odd-numbered train symbol

Just a few miles out of Norfolk Southern’s Allentown Yard, NS train 38G pulls hard through Emmaus, Pennsylvania, as she heads west on the NS Lehigh Line. On the point we see NS 9251, one of seven GE C40-9W locomotives painted in the special Operation Lifesaver 25th Anniversary scheme.

Why is this train westbound, when NS usually symbols their trains with odd numbers when heading west? Well, there is an explanation, as this train’s destination is geographically east of Allentown, Pennsylvania;  initiating in Allentown, this move heads west to Reading, Pa, then turns southward to Philadelphia, then heads eastward across the Delair bridge into New Jersey, destined for the CSAO Pavonia Yard in Camden, NJ. So, technically, this is an eastbound consist, albeit in a roundabout way. In any event, she’s a money-maker for NS, with train lengths commonly in excess of 100 cars, running seven days a week.

Image recorded October 23, 2010.

Odd-numbered locomotives painted in the special Operation Lifesaver 25th Anniversary scheme

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Executives tour the NS system from Office Car Special

There is no mistaking one of the the finest ‘Executive’ trains in the world, as we witness the passing of the Norfolk Southern OCS, or Office Car Special. In the late summer and early Fall of 2010, NS President Wick Moorman and his executive staff toured the entire system on rails, getting a close view of their empire, and perhaps a better idea of how to handle todays rail-freight traffic. Proudly displaying the colors and scheme of NS predecessor road Southern Railway, the spotless F9A/F7B/F7B/F9A EMD locomotives capably handle the westbound 10 car consist as it negotiates the sweeping S-curve alongside the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, milepost 87 on the NS Lehigh Line.

Image recorded September 26, 2010.

One of the the finest 'Executive' trains in the world, Norfolk Southern Office Car Special

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Chemical Coast Secondary hosts other railroads’ locomotives

With the frequent unit ethanol trains arriving in NJ from the midwest, locomotives from other railroads are commonly seen on the Conrail Chemical Coast Secondary,  which is just a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Today is no exception, as the power from yesterday’s Norfolk Southern train 68Q traverses the ‘Hess’ crossovers in Port Reading, NJ, for a reverse move into the CSAO Port Reading Yard, until a crew is called to take an empty train back west.

Today’s lashup is interesting for two reasons; first of all, Burlington Northern Santa Fe C44-9W 4412 is a welcome splash of color in NJ (considering the ‘basic black’ of the NS fleet), and secondly, a four-axle unit is part of todays lineup. The unit ethanol trains almost always get six-axle power assigned to them, but here we see a GP40-2 (NS 3045, ex-CR 3355, blt 3/79) sandwiched by two big GE units, with the leader being NS C40-9W 9365.

Image recorded August 18, 2010.

Conrail Chemical Coast Secondary hosts others' locomotives

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Dormant Bethlehem Steel mill backdrop for several tracks

Sitting in the shadows of the giant, and unfortunately dormant, Bethlehem Steel mill in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Norfolk Southern local H74 pauses on track 2 in River Yard, awaiting paperwork for the ‘dangerous’ loads in the train before departing for the much larger Allentown Yard, a major classification facility on the NS system. Two large General Electric C40-9W  locomotives  (#9398 & #9362) are in charge of the short ‘transfer’ run, a procedure not uncommon to see in the Bethlehem area.

As seen from left in this image: the ‘layoff’ track, used for staging empty/loaded coal trains to and from western NJ, and any other train that may need to sit for awhile; NS Lehigh Line main 1, NS Lehigh Line main 2, then River Yard tracks 5, 4, 3, and 2.

Image recorded August 7, 2010.

Dormant Bethlehem Steel mill backdrop for the many tracks of Norfolk Southern

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Conrail Shared Assets Operations in shadows of oil refinery

In the shadows of the Hess Oil refinery sits the small, but very busy, Conrail Shared Assets Operations Port Reading Yard in Port Reading, NJ. Conrail Shared Assets is a terminal switching railroad, the remnants of the Consolidated Rail Corporation empire of the 1980s and 1990s, which was divided between CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway in 1999.

In the metropolitan NY/NJ area, the ‘Shared Assets’ operation is independent of the two big railroads, with the stipulation that CSX & NS both supply locomotives for power, while Conrail crews operate the trains. This day we find CSX 2810 (ex-Conrail 8724, blt 6/79) sitting patiently in front of the yard office with a handful of cars, waiting for her crew to continue the day’s work.

Image recorded August 3, 2010.

Under the Hess Oil refinery sits the Conrail Shared Assets Operations Port Reading Yard

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