Norfolk southern business trains car No
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| NORFOLK SOUTHERN BUSINESS TRAINS Car No./Name Type Year Built Manufacturer Page F9A & F9B locomotives 1950s EMD NS 1 Virginia office car 1928 Pullman NS 2 Carolina sleeper 1928 Pullman NS 3 Claytor Lake office car 1924 Pullman NS 4 Michigan office car 1927 Pullman NS 5 Maryland office car 1920 Pullman NS 7 Pennsylvania office car 1911 Pullman NS 9 Alabama sleeper 1918 Pullman NS 11 Illinois sleeper 1917 Pullman NS 12 Indiana sleeper 1949 Pullman NS 13 Georgia sleeper 1925 Pullman NS 18 General William Mahone dining car 1949 Pullman NS 19 Kentucky dining-lounge car 1949 Pullman NS 20 Ohio office car 1920 Pullman NS 21 West Virginia office car 1926-1929 Pullman NS 23 Buena Vista roadway inspection 1918 Pullman NS 24 Delaware dome coach 1954 Budd NS 26 New York coach 1947 Budd NS 27 Exhibit Car display car 1926 Pullman NS 28 Powhatan Arrow coach 1949 Pullman NS 29 Powhatan Arrow coach 1949 Pullman NS 30 Marco Polo office car 1927 Pullman F-9A and F-7B Locomotives The F locomotives were built in the early 1950s by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. B&O Railway took delivery of the F-9A models, while Chicago Great Western took delivery of the F-7 boosters. The F-units are numbered in the 4200 series to reflect their Southern Railway heritage because Southern Railway operated the largest fleet of these locomotives. The livery features a modern-day interpretation of the "tuxedo" paint scheme reminiscent of the first F-unit built in 1939 and delivered to Southern Railway. Norfolk Southern purchased the locomotives from Kansas City Southern in 2006 and sent them to the company's Norfolk Southern's Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona for renovation and upgrading.The locomotives were completely overhauled to add new braking control systems, modern cab signals, air conditioning, speed indicators, ditch lights, alerters and Railview. Altlhough the units retain their historic appearance, they were brought up to present-day safety and operating standings. With new engines and increased horsepower, the powerful, smooth-running locomotives will provide good service for years to come. The F-unit locomotives are used exclusively for business trains, freeing Thoroughbred locomotives for freight service. Hundreds of employees had a hand in getting the units ready for their debut in April 2007. During their 9-month renovation, the locomotives received such care and attention, employees nicknamed them "the babies." NS 1 - Virginia NS 2 - Carolina The Virginia (NS 1) and the Carolina (NS 2) have been paired since they were built in 1928. Pullman originally constructed them for Southern Railway. The Virginia, a dining-observation car, is the perfect traveling complement to the four-bedroom sleeper Carolina. Southern first numbered the Virginia SOU 16 and the Carolina SOU 17. In 1979, car 16 became SOU 1, and car 17 was renumbered SOU 1A. Six years after the creation of Norfolk Southern in 1982, the cars were given their current names and were renumbered NS 1 and NS 2. Historically, the Virginia/Carolina set has been reserved for the railroad's president or chairman of the board. Today, Norfolk Southern Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer David R. Goode enjoys being host to guests on the cars. His wife, Susan, helped choose some of the furnishings in the Virginia. Over the years, many of the cars' fixtures have been carefully preserved, and attention to detail is apparent. In the Virginia, metal walls are painted to appear as wood. NS 3 - Claytor Lake One of the more interesting bits of folklore associated with Norfolk Southern's business cars involves a purported ghost aboard the Claytor Lake. As one story goes, railroad employees in Roanoke, Va., encountered the apparition one day in the late 1980s. One employee reported that a woman appeared to float above a group of men seated working in the observation room of the car. She was dressed in 1960s- or 1970s-style clothing. Her hair was straight and turned up at the ends. The image of the woman appeared to gradually turn around as if to survey the employees. Then she floated slowly out of the car. As with many ghost stories, this tale has been supplemented by accounts of doors opening and closing by themselves, sounds of footsteps unaccompanied by human feet, coffeepots pouring without assistance, and sounds of the dining table being set in the middle of the night. Pullman manufactured the car in 1924 for the Wabash Railroad. After being numbered Wabash 10 and later Wabash 100, the car went to NW ownership during the mid-1960s when it acquired the Wabash. The car was renumbered NW 500 and later NS 3. Mahogany paneling is its most unique decorative feature. Robert B. Claytor, NW president and the first chairman of Norfolk Southern, chose to name the car after the lake in western Virginia. Interestingly, Claytor's brother, William Graham Claytor Jr., was a Southern Railway president and later Amtrak's chief executive. NS 4 - Michigan Pullman built NS 4, a two-bedroom office car, as a 12-section, one-drawing-room sleeper in 1927 and named it Portsmouth. It was renamed Lexington before being sold to Southern Railway in December 1948. Three years later, it was converted to an office car and named Tennessean. Southern renumbered the car SOU 4 in May 1953. Conrail bought the car 30 years later and numbered it CR 4. Norfolk Southern acquired it in 1999 and officially designated it NS 4 in 2000. As with some of the other cars, cedar closets and cherry wood bureaus are among the bedroom appointments of NS 4. One bedroom features a private bathroom and shower area. Beds fold into the walls of the dining area, providing sleeping accommodations for two. A secretary's area in the dining room contains a typewriter shelf that folds into the dining room counter - an ingenious space saver. NS 5 - Maryland Pullman built NS 5 in 1920 as a 12-section, one-drawing-room sleeper named Shannon. In April 1941, the car was converted for use in troop train service as No. 1816. After the car served in World War II, Southern Railway acquired it in 1948 and converted it into dinette-coach SOU 3102. It became Southern's office car 10 in 1964. Southern employees installed lead core plywood floors that year to add weight and stability. The car became Southern's Car 3 six years later. Conrail acquired it in 1983 and numbered it CR 1. Norfolk Southern acquired it in 1999 and renumbered it NS 5 in 2000. The dining room can seat up to eight for a meal. The room also doubles as a bedroom with two beds that fold into the wall and out of the way during the day. In a 1991 refurbishment, the car was outfitted with new furniture in the observation room, new curtains and bedspreads, dining room chairs and floor covering. NS 7 - Pennsylvania Pullman built this three-bedroom office car in 1911, making it the oldest in the Norfolk Southern fleet. Numbered NW 100, it was the first all-steel business car built for NW. After the formation of Norfolk Southern in 1982, the car was renumbered NS 7 and named Pocahontas. It kept that number and name until 1988, when Conrail acquired it for use by Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Richard D. Sanborn. Conrail renumbered it CR 100 and renamed it Boston in honor of Sanborn's Massachusetts hometown. Sanborn tragically died less than six months after he joined Conrail. His wife, Hilda, who selected some of the car's furnishings, china and silver, did not have occasion to ride in the car until it was headed to Boston as part of her husband's funeral train, his casket in the observation room. The car was renumbered CR 5 in 1994, and the name Boston was removed in 1997. It became part of Norfolk Southern's fleet in 1999 and again was renumbered NS 7 in 2000. Walls made of imported Padauk wood set this car apart. It is one feature that originally attracted Sanborn's interest. The car can sleep six, as the bedrooms each have two beds, one that folds up into the ceiling when not in use. NS 9 - Alabama The Alabama, now an eight-bedroom sleeper, was built in January 1918 as Elmbank, a 16-section sleeper. In September 1932, Pullman rebuilt it as Moon Brook Club, an eight-section restaurant lounge sleeper that provided meal, lounge and sleeping service in the same car. The car was rebuilt as coach 1044 among a group of 15 cars converted at the same time at Southern Railway's Hayne Shop. The car was used in Southern Railway's steam excursion program and passenger train service during the 1960s. In the late 1970s, it was given the name Alabama and assigned the number 15. It was renumbered NS 9 in 1986. NS 11 - Illinois Pullman built the Illinois in 1917 as the 12-section, one-drawing-room sleeper Osceola. In January 1941, it was numbered 1708 and began service as a 13-section tourist sleeper. Tourist sleepers differed from regular sleeping cars in that they had no drawing room, and the sections were smaller. Southern Railway bought the car in 1947 and the following year converted it to a dinette-coach numbered 3101. For several years, it served on Southern's Skyland Special passenger train between Asheville, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. The car was converted at Hayne Shop in 1962 to business car SOU 11. It was renumbered SOU 6 in 1972 and SOU 16 in 1980. It was renumbered NS 11 in 1986. NS 12 - Indiana Pullman built NS 12 as a dining car in late 1949 for an NW passenger train called the Powhatan Arrow, a post-war streamliner on that railroad. The Powhatan Arrow began service between Norfolk, Va., and Cincinnati in 1946. A contest to name the train resulted in 100,000 entries. A retired NW employee submitted the winner and collected a $500 first prize. His entry honored Native American Chief Powhatan, a member of the tribe of the same name. According to the famous story, Powhatan was about to order the beheading of captured colonist John Smith when the chief's daughter Pocahontas pleaded with her father to spare his life. (She later married another colonist, John Rolfe.) The car originally was a 33-seat diner numbered NW 491. It later was converted at the Roanoke Car Shops to an NW staff car and renumbered NW 450. NS assigned it No. 12 in 1985. Today, it is an eight-bedroom sleeper, refurbished in 1989. Names of employees involved in the 1989 refurbishment are inscribed on a brass plate inside the car. NS 18 - General William Mahone (To be renovated and likely renamed) For those who know the history of Gen. William Mahone, the name of this dining car is quite appropriate. Mahone's hobbies included politics, poker - and cooking, which was quite ironic since he suffered from chronic dyspepsia and weighed a mere 100 pounds. Pullman built the car in late 1949 as a 36-seat diner for the Powhatan Arrow, an NW passenger train, and numbered it NW 493, a designation it carried until 1971, when Amtrak bought the car. The car was assigned the name General William Mahone when built until 1957. After ownership by Amtrak and the Lake Shore chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in Pennsylvania, it came back to the Norfolk Southern family in 1984. It was then named for Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. In the early 1990s, the car was reassigned its original name, General William Mahone. Today, a painting of Mahone overlooks the dining tables from the front end of the car - the same spot once occupied by a portrait of Forrest. The car's namesake has a rich history. Mahone was chief engineer, president and general superintendent of Norfolk & Petersburg Railway and later was president of the Norfolk & Petersburg and the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio railways. Mahone also created a way to support 52 miles of straight track over the Great Dismal Swamp in eastern Virginia. He had trees cut and placed in the swamp in a crisscross formation. The railroad line's dirt roadbed then was heaped on top of the logs, which proved to be a very solid foundation. The logs Mahone had submerged more than 100 years ago are still underwater today and support one of Norfolk Southern's heaviest used lines. The roadbed still is considered an engineering marvel. Mahone was a prominent figure in 19th century Virginia politics. He served terms in both the state and U.S. senates. He also ran an unsuccessful Virginia gubernatorial campaign in 1889. One interesting guest who spent time on the Mahone was Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice. He played college football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and professional football for the Washington Redskins during the 1940s and `50s. During World War II while playing football for the Bainbridge Navy Squad, a sailor remarked of Justice, "He runs along just like a choo-choo train." The name stuck. NS 19 - Kentucky Pullman built the Kentucky in October 1949 as the 36-seat diner NW 494 for service in the Powhatan Arrow, an NW passenger train. The car was named Frederick J. Kimball, honoring the NW chairman and president who in the 1890s had guided the railroad on an expansion that changed it from a minor agricultural road into a regional line relying mainly on coal. The name was removed in 1958 to allow the car to be operated in other NW passenger trains. In 1984, the car was renamed the General William Mahone. In the early 1990s, that designation was transferred to NS 18, and the car was given its current name, Kentucky. Today, the Kentucky is seen most frequently at Union Station in Washington, D.C., next to the Marco Polo, the Norfolk Southern office car that once was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's private rail car. The Kentucky as now configured is a dining-lounge car that can seat 32 guests for a meal. NS 20 - Ohio The office car, Ohio, was built in fall 1920 as the 12-section, one-drawing-room sleeper Ronneby. In October 1943, Pullman rebuilt it into a 13-section tourist sleeper and numbered it 2632. Southern Railway bought the car in December 1947 and converted it to a dinette-coach the following year. The Ohio has the distinction of being the first of Southern's dinette-coaches completed - SOU 3103, finished June 1, 1948. An article in the Southern Railway Historical Association magazine, Ties, reports that the car made a profit of $47 in its first 10 days of service. Revenue of $431 in food and bar service exceeded costs of labor, food, spirits and supplies totaling $384. In March 1963, it was converted to an office car and numbered SOU 20. In 1970, it was renumbered SOU 7. It later was numbered NW 7 and finally NS 20. NS 21 - West Virginia (NEEDS UPDATE) Pullman built the office car West Virginia between 1926 and 1929 as a heavyweight car. In 1950, it was converted to an office car at Southern Railway's Hayne Shop in Spartanburg, S.C., and renumbered SOU 15. In 1953, it was renumbered SOU 12, then SOU 9 in 1970. The following year, it was renumbered SOU 8. It got its current designation, NS 21, in 1985. Renovated NS 23 - Buena Vista The Buena Vista affords an up-close look at the track from a large window at the observation end of this unique, multipurpose car. Most often used for roadway inspection trips by railroad officials, it features 28 theater-style seats facing the rear window. Pullman built the car in 1918 as a 16-section sleeper, Cuyama. Fourteen years later, in an effort to help fight the slump in passenger business caused by the Depression, Pullman rebuilt Cuyama and several other 16-section sleepers into eight-section restaurant lounge sleepers. These rebuilt cars provided lounge, meal, and sleeping accommodations in the same car. Pullman gave Cuyama a new name, La Fontaine Club. Southern Railway acquired the car in 1948 and numbered it SOU 2409. In 1954, the railroad converted it into a coach and renumbered it SOU 1032. In 1973, it was converted to a roadway inspection car numbered SOU 19 and named Buena Vista. Norfolk Southern numbered it NS 23 in 1985. NS 24 - Delaware NEEDS UPDATE One of Norfolk Southern's newer business cars, NS 24 was built in 1954 by the Budd Company as a stainless steel dome lounge for a Santa Fe Railway passenger train, the San Francisco Chief. Numbered 552 originally, the car served in the Chief along with five sister cars until 1971, when it was sold to Auto-Train, a company offering auto transport between the Northeast and Florida. Amtrak now offers this service. The car, which had been renumbered 514, was sold at auction in December 1981 to Western Rail Services of California. The Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad bought the car in 1986 from Western Rail Services and later sold it to Conrail for special train operations. Conrail numbered it CR 55. The car was painted Pullman green to match the Conrail fleet in the early `90s. Conrail added lights along the car's interior walkways and new upholstery in keeping with the car's heritage with the Santa Fe. Norfolk Southern acquired it in 1999 and renumbered it NS 24 in 2000. Artwork on the painted, tooled linoleum on the front of the serving area downstairs is thought to be from the Zuni Native American tribe of the southwestern United States. In addition, pinholes in light coverings throughout the car remind riders of an open, cloudless sky dotted with stars. Renovated NS 26 New York The Budd Company built this coach in early 1947 among a group of cars ordered for service on the New York Central (NYC), a Conrail predecessor company. The car, numbered 2949, was used in NYC passenger trains such as the Pacemaker, Ohio State Limited and New England States. The car was owned by NYC for more than 20 years, and then the Penn Central, another Conrail predecessor. Amtrak bought the car for coach service, renumbering it 5667. Conrail bought it from Amtrak for coach seating on special trains and numbered it CR 27. It joined the Norfolk Southern fleet in 1999 and was renumbered NS 26 in 2000. It once had 56 reclining seats, two restrooms, individual overhead lighting, overhead luggage storage and men's and women's lounges. In its current configuration, it has 54 reclining coach seats with a service area at one end. NS 27 - Exhibit Car Norfolk Southern's showcase on wheels, the Exhibit Car is a rolling museum of modern transportation technology. It has served as a goodwill ambassador for Norfolk Southern and the rail industry. In three decades of service as an Exhibit Car, NS 27 has opened its doors to more than 1.5 million people in some 300 cities where the car has toured. Built in 1926 by Pullman Standard as a passenger car, it formerly was SOU 24 and carried the name Lake Childs. Southern converted it to an Exhibit Car in 1971. Renovations through the years tracked the growth of the Norfolk Southern transportation network. The company refurbished it and renamed it the Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car in 1982 with the consolidation of Southern and Norfolk and Western railways. In 1999, Norfolk Southern rebuilt the car inside and out for its debut in Northern Region communities newly served by the company's expanded geographic reach. Displays inside the car illustrate how people and technology support Norfolk Southern's vision to be the safest, most customer-focused and successful transportation in the world. Laser discs and computers enhance interactive exhibits describing the history and modern operations of Norfolk Southern. A locomotive simulator provides visitors a chance to see life from an engineer's point of view. A mock-up of a Norfolk Southern locomotive combines computer animation with realistic controls - complete with horn, throttle and brake - to demonstrate the dangers of trespassing on railroad property and ignoring warnings at highway/rail grade crossings. A train-dispatching center uses video presentations and a lighted system board to portray movements on an imaginary operating division. The exhibit illustrates how people in a dispatching office - the nerve center of the railroad - manage Norfolk Southern's hundreds of trains daily to provide safe and efficient transportation services. Norfolk Southern makes the Exhibit Car available for community festivals, safety activities and other special events. Requests for the Exhibit Car can be made through the company's Web site at www.nscorp.com. NS 28 and NS 29 Powhatan Arrow (Are these two cars always operated together?) A car built for NW's Powhatan Arrow, NS 28 was built in late 1949 as NW 501, a 40-seat car with rest rooms and crew quarters. In 1958, NW employees removed the crew quarters and added 28 seats, bringing capacity to 68. The car is most frequently used today for roadway inspection trips and in trains supporting the highway/rail grade crossing safety program, Operation Lifesaver. Operation Lifesaver is a nationwide nonprofit program dedicated to eliminating collisions, injuries and fatalities at highway/rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way. A sister car to NS 28, the 58-seat NS 29 was built in fall 1949 as NW 533 for service on the Powhatan Arrow and other passenger trains. It received its current designation in 1984. NS 30 - Marco Polo The Marco Polo served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's private rail car during his days as governor of New York and through the first years of his presidency. Roosevelt rented the almost-new car from Pullman in 1927 and had it modified to meet his special needs in coping with his disability. Only one of these modifications, a brass rail above the president's bed, remains in place today. Roosevelt most likely used this rail to help himself out of bed. It has been reported that Roosevelt's usher, William D. Simmons, bore such striking resemblance to FDR that he occasionally served as a stand-in, imitating the trademark Roosevelt smile and wave as the statesman napped in his stateroom during campaign trips. Roosevelt's stateroom now is called the Marco Polo suite. Roosevelt used the Marco Polo until the early 1940s, when he changed to a car named for another famous explorer, Ferdinand Magellan. That car, also Pullman-manufactured, was outfitted with armor plate and bulletproof glass, making it safer for a traveling president during wartime. After Roosevelt left the Marco Polo, it carried other notables, including Madame Chiang Kai-Shek of China, J.H. Studebaker, Harvey Firestone and W.L. Mellon. In 1944, the Central of Georgia, a Norfolk Southern predecessor, acquired the car and named it Savannah after its headquarters city. In 1989, the car's original name was reassigned, and it was outfitted with a new stainless steel kitchen. Marco Polo has occupied a permanent berth at Washington, D.C.'s, Union Station since 1983, when it was brought there for a centennial celebration of the late president's birth. Members of Congress and railroad officials are its most frequent visitors. The car is stationed next to NS 19. Business Cars.doc END Download 23.56 Kb. Share with your friends:
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