‘East siding’ grade shows world is not flat

In a telephoto image proving that the world is indeed ‘not flat’, Norfolk Southern train 68Q is seen parked on the Port Reading yard track, aka the ‘east siding’, in Carteret, NJ, on the Conrail Shared Assets Chemical Coast Secondary. Evidence of the grade is apparent with the small piles of sand alongside the rails, where engineers have had to activate the onboard sanders to increase adhesion of the steel wheels on the steel rails to gain traction.

Traffic is a bit busy on this spring day, as another loaded ethanol train is sitting on the ‘west siding’, directly across the main. NS 9517, along with sister C40-9W 9241, will have to wait until tonight or tomorrow morning to be off-loaded, as the South Jersey Dispatcher will take the adjacent train first, issuing a Form D south to Sewaren within an hour of this photo.

Image recorded May 7, 2010.

Norfolk Southern train 68Q parked on the Port Reading yard track, aka the 'east siding', in Carteret, NJ

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Modern science: Norfolk Southern research car gathers data

On a beautiful fall night in Norfolk Southern’s Croxton Yard in Secaucus, NJ, two General Electric C40-9W locomotives (9395 & 9517) bracket Norfolk Southern Research car 32, in between mainline assignments. This unique consist came in earlier today, and would return west on the next days NS train 21M. NS Research car 32 measures locomotive adhesion rates and freight car dynamics, in addition to track gauge, track wear in relation to new rail, and track elevation. This ‘modern science’ at work is why Norfolk Southern is one of the safest and most efficient Class 1 railroads in America.

Image recorded by Anthony Paci on October 1, 2009.

Modern science - Norfolk Southern research car gathers train data

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