Past News Reports
(Yesterday's News is Tomorrow's
History)
NS
Scott Lindsay
March 2007: 2007 Capital Plan
Norfolk
Southern plans to spend $1.34 billion in 2007 for capital improvements to
its rail operations, including $73 million in infrastructure investments for
increased capacity. Individual line capacity details were not initially
released. However, during the AAR's 2006 Peak Season customer forum, Chief
Operating Officer Steve Tobias noted that future capacity enhancements would
include the following NS corridors: Lake Division (Fort Wayne,
Indiana-Cincinnati, Kentucky), Georgia Division (Atlanta,
Georgia-Jacksonville, Florida), Illinois and Central divisions (St. Louis,
Missouri-Danville, Kentucky), and Alabama Division (Birmingham,
Alabama-Austell, Georgia, Birmingham-Meridian, Mississippi; and
Birmingham-Columbus-Macon, Georgia).
New Power
NS' 2007 equipment spending plan includes $321
million to purchase 53 six-axle locomotives and upgrade existing
locomotives. All 53 new units are expected to be General Electric ES40DCs to
be built at Erie starting in February. The units will be numbered in the
7617-7669 series and the only external difference from prior locos is a
revision to the structure that houses the air-to-air intercooler fans. In
addition, all will be delivered in complete NS livery from the GE paint shop
and not sent into service wearing just primer. Reportedly, NS management is
not happy with all the dirty "grey ghost" units running around that never
got painted in their own shops.
Meridian Speedway Trials
When the BNSF announced plans in
late 2006 to develop direct intermodal service into Atlanta using CSX
Transportation east of Birmingham, NS began executing a strategy to protect
its traffic between the Southeast and California.
Currently, BNSF and NS move one to two intermodal trains
daily between Atlanta and Southern California, using the Kansas City
Southern's "Meridian Speedway" route as the middle link. In addition to
international container traffic, this is a key lane for domestic truckload
partners such as J.B. Hunt. Now that BNSF will soon cut the KCS and NS out
of this routing, NS is jumping on the opportunity to use its recently
acquired access to KCS' connection with the Union Pacific at Shreveport,
Louisiana.
During December 2006, NS and UP took the first steps toward
developing transcontinental intermodal service via the KCS route by
operating a pair of test trains between Atlanta and Los Angeles. At 20:05
EST on December 8, NS train #23J departed the Austell, Georgia intermodal
terminal with 73 loads and a trio of UP SD70Ms (4575/4205/4147) on the
point. The train was on KCS rails in Meridian by 06:00 CST the following
morning and operated across the Speedway as KCS train I-MESH. It delivered
to the UP in Shreveport by 20:30 CST that evening, becoming UP train
KSHLB-09. Using the former Missouri Pacific/Texas & Pacific route across
Texas, it arrived at UP's ICTF terminal in Long Beach, California by 22:00
PST on December 11.
Eastbound test train KLBSH-06 departed the ICTF on December 6
at 03:30 PST with 53 loads powered by the UP-5192/4870/NS-9927 (2
SD70Ms/DASH 9-40CW). It made the KCS connection in Shreveport by 15:05 on
December 8 and operated over the KCS as train I-SHME. Designated by NS as
train #22J, it was on NS rails in Meridian by 01:35 CST, December 9 and
arrived in Austell that afternoon at 12:50 EST.
Reportedly, railroad officials were pleased with the initial
performance of these trials movements. If UP and NS can come to agreement,
some expect that new service over the route could come as early as the first
quarter of 2007. Presently, both railroads offer service between Atlanta and
Los Angeles via the Memphis Gateway. Thus, these train pairs (#225/#226 on
NS and ZNSLC/ZLCNS on UP) would seem to be ideal candidates for rerouting
via Shreveport. Some of the international traffic moving from the West Coast
into Atlanta via UP-New Orleans-CSX would also be targeted for the new UP-NS
routing. Whatever develops, 2007 will be a pivotal year for intermodal
operations into the Southeast.
DP Helper Tests
During December, NS operated two unit coal
trains with Distributed Power (DP) over territory in which these trains are
normally assisted by manned helper sets. The first train #770
(Andover-Clover, Virginia) ran on December 6 after loading 104 cars at
Wentz, Virginia. It consisted of three ES40DCs leading and two more ES40DCs
on the rear, along with a DASH 9-40CW. Normally, manned pushers assist such
trains from Andover to Watkins, Virginia. The radio-controlled units on this
test train remained on to Bulls Gap, Tennessee, where one unit was removed
and the other two continued to Roanoke.
The second train loaded at Fola, West Virginia and the
Distributed Power set was activated on the train at Alloy, West Virginia on
December 12. The testing began the next morning when the train (U91)
departed for Elmore, West Virginia with the 7585/9726/7523 (ES40DC/DASH
9-40CW/ES40DC) leading and the 8389/7568/7561 (DASH 9-40CW/2 ES40DCs)
pushing. From Elmore, the train ran as #754 to Duke Power's Belews Creek,
North Carolina plant. The potential savings in helper crew costs over this
route are especially apparent. This Belews Creek load would have required
four individual helpers without DP: Alloy-Elmore, Clark's Gap grade,
Whitethorn-North Fork, and Roanoke-Belews Creek.
Reportedly, each run was a one-time trial for General
Electric and NS operations people collect signal strength data, as well as
get operational experience. The ES40DCs used in the tests were either
delivered from Erie with active DP gear or modified to include DP at the
Roanoke Locomotive Shop. NS has already been utilizing DP-equipped DASH
9-40CWs on train #172 (New Orleans-Linwood, North Carolina) east of
Birmingham when tonnage levels warrant.
Pocahontas Division
A new coal load-out is planned along
the ex-L&N CV trackage, now owned by NS east of Appalachia, Virginia.
Presently, a consortium of coal operators load at Paragon, a facility built
several years ago at Kelly View. Now, it appears a second facility on this
line will be constructed between Appalachia and Kelly View. The location
will allow loading of two trains on the line at the same time, since there
would be about two miles of separation between the new load out and Paragon.
Shorts
A spike in car loadings during December resulted in
most recently stored C39-8s and C39-8Es being reactivated. For example, the
8200, 8201, 8202, 8203, 8206, 8558, 8569, 8608, 8637, 8646, 8655, 8662, 8668
and 8686 were dispatched from Chattanooga on December 13 as a light power
move to the Pocahontas Division. Of the 90 such units rostered, only nine
were reported stored as of December 18
A new set of universal crossovers
have been installed on the Detroit District west of Oakwood Junction,
Michigan, and is named "Preston". TCS is now in effect between Oakwood
Junction and Romulus on both main tracks
The City of Springfield, Ohio is
establishing a "quite zone" on NS' Dayton District through the entire city
limits (mile 180.9-185.0 ) and will be in effect no later than June 2008
after gates have been reworked with the automated horn system
With the
development of the new Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility south of Columbus,
Ohio, NS plans to install TCS between Valley Crossing and Ashville on the
Columbus District. New holdout signals will be at Ashville and Rohr roads,
while new crossover/ siding interlockings will be at Dix and Duvalls
In
Kansas City, NS has changed from yard radio channel AAR 18 to AAR 72.
Ron Flanary, David DeVault, Terry Mefford, Doug Midkiff,
Chris Starnes, Hal Wolf, Shelby Woods, NS
May 2007: A Winter to Forget
Snow, ice and
extremely cold temperatures dealt a heavy blow to Norfolk Southern
operations during February, with the impact lasting well into March.
Especially hard-hit were the Dearborn and Lake divisions across Northern
Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Greatly compounding the situation was the
February 21 derailment involving a westbound empty coal train and eastbound
merchandise train in Goshen, Indiana. This incident blocked the
Chicago-Cleveland mainline in Goshen, Indiana, resulting in dozen of trains
being tied down until the line reopened early the next morning.
Further aggravation resulted from a computer outage on the
Dearborn Division and at Elkhart Yard. Amtrak was forced to detour its
Lakeshore Limited and Capital Limited on several occasions to avoid the
blockages, and freight customers suffered through delays to carload traffic
that measured in days. Intermodal traffic on the Chicago line was also hit
hard, and some traffic was detoured around Chicago via Fort Wayne and
Decatur for several days to western connections at Kansas City. Another
serious problem was the inability to move relief crews as needed due to icy
road conditions.
A good indication of how the network suffered is evident in
several performance indicators. Average dwell times at the Elkhart terminal
were in the low to mid 20-hour range through January, but ranged from 37 to
42 hours during the last three weeks of February. The Bellevue, Ohio,
terminal also had average dwell times ranging from 37 to 51 hours during
late February. For the first time in over a year, average system train
speeds fell below 20 mph. Even intermodal train speeds fell three to four
mph when compared to January.
Executive F Update
F7 B-unit 4275 has had the honor of
being the first of NS' four "executive F" locomotives to be repainted at the
Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, Pennsylvania. As expected, the scheme
for these Fs will replicate the Southern "tuxedo" style, with a black body,
imitation aluminum band and gold striping. It also features gold numbering
and an NS horse-head logo above the striping. F9A 4270 was expected to be
next through the paint shop, followed by F9A 4271 and F7B 4276. All four
should be ready for service during second quarter. Following the 2006
acquisition of these F units, one NS executive proudly commented, "I believe
that you will be seeing more business car trips on our railroad in the
future."
UP Intermodal Partnership
During February and March, Union
Pacific and NS made several service and capacity enhancements to existing
train service between Southern California and Atlanta via the Memphis
gateway. This includes the addition of guaranteed SuperFlyer service between
Los Angeles and Atlanta, as well into San Diego using contracted drayage
over Los Angles.
The much-anticipated shift of Southeastern intermodal traffic
to the Shreveport, Louisiana, gateway is now slated to begin sometime during
the Third Quarter of 2007. By utilizing NS' rights over the KCS between the
UP at Shreveport and the NS at Meridian, this new service will shorten the
route by roughly 150 miles versus the Memphis route.
Hybrid Coal Hoppers
On February 20, FreightCar America
delivered the first car of an order for 1,200 newly designed BethGonฎ II
hybrid coal cars to the NS at its Roanoke, Virginia, shop. NS CEO Wick
Moorman christened the new railcar as he accepted it from the employees of
FreightCar America. The new production line, which expands FreightCar
America's space in the former NS East End Shop, has come into operation
about two weeks faster than planned. Already, more than a dozen cars have
been built.
The cars are unique in that the lower portion is built of
stainless steel, while the upper car body is composed of aluminum. The
aluminum helps reduce the tare weight and increase capacity, while the steel
portion will sustain higher heating temperatures. This will allow the cars
to be operated through thawing sheds during the winter months when coal
freezes up within the cars.
Looking forward, FreightCar America is hoping to win a
significant share of NS coal hopper purchase. NS reportedly estimates that
nearly 90 percent of its coal hoppers and Top Gons will need to be replaced
within the next 10-15 years.
Buffalo Line Update
A portion of NS' Buffalo Line was sold
to the Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority (STERA) on February 28.
The deal involves roughly 45 miles of track between the Wyoming-Cattaraugus
county line south of Arcade, New York and the Pennsylvania state line. STERA
purchased the line for $1 and will lease it back to NS, which will sublease
the operation to the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (WNYP). The
latter already operates NS' former Erie trackage between Meadville,
Pennsylvania, and Hornell, New York, which intersects the Buffalo Line at
Olean, New York. In addition to the segment acquired by STERA, the WNYP will
operate the NS trackage south of the Pennsylvania state line as far as
Driftwood.
Such a sale had been expected ever since NS shifted the
through traffic from the line over to the Southern Tier route through
Hornell and Binghamton several years ago. Since then, the WNYP's portion of
the Buffalo Line has handled only local traffic and detour movements. NS
will retain rights to operate overhead traffic when required. The sale
generated much local controversy due to property tax abatements being
received by the WNYP for both its former Erie trackage and the Buffalo Line
segment.
Dallas Service Improvements
NS and Kansas City Southern
recently implemented several service changes around train #219
(Atlanta-Meridian, Mississippi/KCS-Dallas) in order to make it more truck
competitive. Service frequency has been increased from six to seven days per
week. This will cut one day from the transit time for Charlotte and
Jacksonville weekend traffic connecting over Atlanta.
Also, the availability time in Dallas has been advanced from
14:00 to 10:45, allowing more opportunities for same-day delivery. To
support this change, the scheduled departure time for #219 from Atlanta's
Inman Yard is now 01:00 versus 04:00. Delivery to the KCS at Meridian is now
scheduled for around noon.
New Business
With the decision by Toyota to build its next
U.S. assembly complex on the BNSF west of Tupelo, Mississippi, the loser was
the Chattanooga site being pushed by NS and the State of Tennessee. On a
more positive note, the number of ethanol plants being built on the NS
network continues to rise. NuFuels, LLC is planning to build a $150 million
alternative fuels complex northeast of Huntington, Indiana, along NS' Fort
Wayne-Decatur mainline. The 114-acre site on U.S. 24 will house facilities
to produce biodiesel and ethanol.
NS will also be serving a new ethanol plant being developed
between Princess Anne and Pocomoke, Maryland. The $150 million plant will be
located on a 257-acre site along U.S. Route 13 and construction is scheduled
to begin this summer. The plant will be powered by roughly 200,000 tons of
wood chips to turn about 18.5 million bushels of corn into fuel annually.
Most of the corn will be shipped in by rail from the Midwest.
German firm ThyssenKrupp Steel AG is considering a new plant
location north of Mobile, Alabama, along NS' route to Birmingham. The
proposed $2.3 billion plant would be located between Calvert and Mt. Vernon,
and also have access to the Tombigbee River. If the State is successful in
locating ThyssenKrupp at this site, the mill would be supplied with slab
steel from Brazil off-loaded in Mobile and barged upriver to the mill site.
The State of Louisiana is also in competition for the mill and is offering a
Mississippi River site that would allow ocean vessels to unload directly at
the plant.
Operations
NS recently revised merchandise train #186 from
an East St. Louis-Bellevue, Ohio schedule to a Chicago-Columbus, Ohio train
operating via Fort Wayne. Under its new schedule, it departs Chicago around
12:00 and arrive Buckeye Yard in Columbus by early the next morning. On
#186's old route, train #142 has been established to handle its traffic
between Decatur, Illinois and Bellevue. It departs Decatur in the late
afternoon and arrives in Bellevue by noon the following day.
Westbound, Union Pacific run-through train #11E has been
abolished between Conway Yard, Pennsylvania and the UP in East St. Louis.
Its traffic now flows into Bellevue, where it connects with UP run-through
train #11E (Bellevue-Salem, Illinois/UP). This train utilizes the Sidney,
Illinois, connection with the UP.
Train #188 has been established to operate as required
between Chicago and Columbus via Elkhart, Indiana and the Oak Harbor, Ohio,
connection. Train #17E has also been operating as needed between Bellevue
and the Canadian Pacific's Bensenville, Illinois, yard via Oak Harbor and
Elkhart.
Further south, train #389 has been established to handle
Chattanooga's overflow tonnage for Sheffield, Alabama. It operates typically
later in the week, with a late afternoon departure from DeButts Yard and
arrival in Sheffield before sunrise the next morning. -Ken Borg, Ed
Sherrill, Jay Sigman, Chris Toth, Hal Wolf, Shelby Woods, NS
