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Dawn breaks over Norfolk Southern in eastern Pennsylvania

Another day is about to begin on the Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line main in eastern Pennsylvania. The sun is just rising on a very chilly late fall day in the small city of Bethlehem, and the small patches of ice from the morning dew on the Fahy Bridge warn of the impending winter season right around the corner. Fortunately, the dense fog hovering above the Lehigh River has stayed a bit to the east in this image, nearly obscuring the bridge in the distance. The long dormant Bethlehem Steel steel mill looms in the background, a testament to the city’s life-blood that brought prosperity to this region in the early 20th century, until less expensive imported products spelled doom for the steel industry in this country.

The last 30 years have been economically difficult for this region, but the hearty people of this area have survived, and new businesses and a new casino, recently constructed right next to the mill in the distance, have delivered a positive outlook to this part of the Lehigh Valley. All’s quiet at this particular moment on this particular day, but the peaceful silence will soon be broken with the first movement of the new morning, a westbound train just 20 minutes away.

Image recorded November 6, 2010.

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Roundabout route explains odd-numbered train symbol

Norfolk Southern

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.

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Executives tour the NS system from Office Car Special

Norfolk Southern

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.

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Chemical Coast Secondary hosts other railroads’ locomotives

Conrail

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.

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Dormant Bethlehem Steel mill backdrop for several tracks

Norfolk Southern

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.

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