Norfolk Southern has painted 20 of it's new locomotives in the colors of its' predecessor railroads. Over 2,000 railfans and others attended a photo portrait event of all 20 units, plus NS 1030 in the current paint scheme, on July 3 and 4, 2012 at Spencer, North Carolina,  home of the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Here are some of my photos. I have organized the pictures in various sections, each with its own web page. After this list of the 20 units, I have photos of the crowd, North Carolina Transportation Museum, banquet the night before at the Salisbury Depot in Salisbury, NC, and more.

The locomotives painted are as follows, in no particular order. I included a link to my photos of each engine after each description and history. The history of each road comes from NS's own website. (http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Community/Heritage%20Locomotives/):

1) 8101-Central of Georgia Railway (SR, GE) was formed in 1833 to connect Macon, Ga., with Savannah, completing a rail link between Chattanooga and the port. It was famed for two passenger trains named after prize-winning race horses, the Nancy Hanks and the Man O’ War. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8101:


2) 1071 - Central Railroad of New Jersey (CR, EMD) was the first American railroad to have its employees wear uniforms, and in 1892, one of its locomotives set a world speed record of 105 mph. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1071:


3) 8098 - Conrail (GE) was created by the U.S. government in 1976 from the bankrupt Penn Central, Lehigh & Hudson River, Erie Lackawanna, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, Reading and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, becoming the largest railroad at the time, with 34,000 route miles. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8098:


4) 1074 - Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (CR, EMD) was created in 1849 to connect the rich anthracite coalfields of the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey. A hurricane in 1955 knocked the railroad out of operation for a month, with the resulting financial difficulties forcing it to merge with the Erie Railroad in 1960 to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1074:


5) 1068 - Erie Railroad (CR, EMD) was key to economic development along the Southern Tier, which includes Binghamton and Elmira, N.Y. In 1851, Secretary of State Daniel Webster, wrapped in a blanket and clutching a bottle of rum, was strapped to a rocking chair on an open flatcar so he could ride the just-completed railroad. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1068:


6) 1072 - Illinois Terminal Railroad (NW, EMD) began life as the Illinois Traction System in 1896 as an interurban electric railroad in central and southern Illinois. Hit by the Great Depression, it was reorganized as the Illinois Terminal in 1937 and attempted to survive as a passenger railroad until relinquishing that business in 1956, when it was acquired by a consortium of railroads. It was operated as a freight railroad until acquired by NW in 1982. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1072:


7) 8105 - Interstate Railroad (SR, GE) was incorporated in 1896 to serve southwestern Virginia coalfields. Despite its name, it operated entirely within Virginia. It was acquired by Southern in 1961. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8105:


8) 8104 - Lehigh Valley Railroad (CR, GE) was built to haul coal, replacing water transport down the Lehigh River, and was known as the Route of the Black Diamond. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8104:


9) 8025 - Monongahela Railway (CR, GE) was created in 1901 as a joint venture of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad to haul coal out of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with its base of operations in Brownsville, Penn. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquired a one-third stake in it in 1927. It was merged into Conrail in 1993. The lines of the former Monongahela continue to serve a vital coal-producing region today. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8025:


10) 1066 - New York Central Railroad (CR, EMD) was organized from 10 roads paralleling the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo, N.Y., and became known as the “Water Level Route.” Today, the former NYC line between Cleveland and Chicago is the busiest on the NS system, with more than 100 freight trains daily. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1066:


11) 8100 - New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (NW, GE) was known commonly as the Nickel Plate Road, a moniker it acquired when the Norwalk (Ohio) Chronicle referred to it in 1881 as “the great New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad,” supposedly indicative of its solid financial backing. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8100:


12) 8114 - Norfolk Southern Railway (SR, EMD) (not to be confused with today’s Norfolk Southern) was a line serving southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina, chartered in 1883 and acquired by Southern Railway in 1974. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8114:


13) 8103 - Norfolk & Western Railway (GE) originated as City Point Railroad, a nine-mile road between Petersburg and City Point, Va., in 1836. Following numerous mergers and acquisitions, it became the Norfolk & Western in 1881. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8103:


14) 1073 - Penn Central (CR, EMD) The Penn Central Transportation Company was created in 1968 from the merger of the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford was added shortly afterward. Penn Central formed the core of Conrail when Conrail was created in 1976. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1073:


15) 8102 - Pennsylvania Railroad (CR, GE), incorporated in 1846, billed itself as the “Standard Railroad of the World” and was for many years the largest American railroad by tonnage and revenues. PRR opened the Horseshoe Curve railroad engineering marvel; carried President Lincoln to his inauguration; implemented the “line and staff” organizational structure used by business today; built Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan; and electrified the route between New York and Washington, among its many achievements. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8102:


16) 1067 - Reading Company (CR, EMD) was one of the first railroads built in America and built its fortune hauling coal. It featured the first iron railroad bridge in America. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1067:


17) 1065 - Savannah & Atlanta Railway (SR, EMD) began life as the Brinson Railway in 1906, slowly expanding from Savannah toward the Northwest. It was consolidated with other small railroads to become the Savannah & Atlanta in 1917. Central of Georgia bought the S&A in 1951. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1065:


18) 8099 - Southern Railway (GE) originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation's first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, "The Best Friend of Charleston." Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years. Click the photo below to view more photos of 8099:


19) 1069 - Virginian Railway (NW, EMD) was the only railroad created through the capital and credit of one man, oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. After building a short line, the Deepwater Railway, to haul coal out of West Virginia and then being blocked by the bigger railroads, he created another railroad, the Tidewater Railway, to reach Norfolk, Va., then combined the two into the Virginian in 1907. It was acquired by N&W in 1959. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1069:


20) 1070 - Wabash Railroad (NW, EMD) was formed in 1877 and served the central U.S. It was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1927 and leased to Norfolk & Western in 1960. In 1991, N&W, by then part of Norfolk Southern, purchased the Wabash outright. Made famous by the 1904 song “Wabash Cannonball,” there was in fact no such train by that name until 1949. Click the photo below to view more photos of 1070:


21) 1030 - This is the current NS paint scheme.


The following photos are displayed here in no particular order or time frame:


Showing turntable and 10 of the heritage units.


Early morning railfans having their first look at the 30 heritage units, about 7:15 a.m. on July 3.


Other equipment displayed at the North Carolina Transportation Museum.


Southern 6900 and 2601, part of the museum's collection.


This was taken about 10 p.m. July 3.










Southern 6900 and 8099.






Norfolk & Western 8103, 522 and 620 lined up.


NW 522 and 8103, 7:57 p.m.




Earlier in the day, at 11 a.m., NS  President and CEO Wick Moorman talked to the crowd. I got to briefly chat with him right after I took this picture. Besides thanking him for doing the NS Heritage units, I asked him if any of these locomotives would be sent to Arkansas or other parts of the western part of the country, and he said no. I then asked, even after 5 years?  He said maybe after 5 years. No, I didn't expect him to say yes.






Someone in a 'brain' costume walked up to Mr. Moorman right before he started to talk.


After the speech, the slowly ran all 20 of the heritage units south of the roundhouse past the waiting crowd. There were at least 3 ambulances called to this general location because of people fainting in the heat (100 degrees).

 
The Wabash locomotive moved by.




Amtrak 40th Anniversary locomotive 156 and Viewliner train was also at Spencer for touring.



The following are photos of the North Carolina Transportation Museum and inside the roundhouse:




Crow.


One of  the North Carolina Transportation Museum facilities.




Bob Julian Roundhouse.


Some of the displays.


The Atlantic Coast line Champion, purple, yellow and white locomotive.


Atlantic Coast Line.


Steamer 542.






Steam engine 1031.


Looking at the NS heritage units from inside the roundhouse.


The Pennsylvania and Illinois Terminal locomotives are book-ending the Southern 8099, taken from inside the roundhouse.

Following are some pictures I did of the banquet at the Salisbury, NC Depot/Amtrak station on Monday evening, July 2, 2012:


Salisbury Station, July 2.


Waiting for a train across the street from the Salisbury station Monday evening.


NS 8913, north-Washington bound.


NS 5375.


Waiting for the North Carolina Piedmont passenger train, 5:55 p.m.


The Piedmont arrives. For a movie of this train leaving Salisbury, either click on the photo above or the link below:
http://youtu.be/cluZM58P0A8




The station platform.


Southern Railway schedule of passenger trains, 1908.


Signals.


The crowd inside the Salisbury Depot for the barbecue meal and NS speakers. One of the speakers was the man who was in charge of getting all 20 locomotives painted correctly. I lost his name and would appreciate it if someone would let me know. He gave a very interesting talk on how they chose each paint scheme, getting the paint, coordinating with historical groups, etc.


Sunset in Spencer July 3.


I had several of these Cheerwine soft drinks.

On a sad note, the first day of the NS photo event, at about 7 a.m. Eastern  time July 3, 2012, Andy Griffith of the "Andy Griffith Show" died here in North Carolina, relatively close to where we were. He lived in the state and was considered a favorite son. Some flags were at half-staff.

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