The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States, formed in 1982 by the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and the Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada over the Albany to Montréal route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and previously on CN from Buffalo to St. Thomas. NS is responsible for maintaining 28,400 miles (45,700 km), with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance. Intermodal containers and trailers are the most common commodity type carried by NS, which have grown as coal business has declined throughout the 21st century; coal was formerly the largest source of traffic. The railway offers the largest intermodal rail network in eastern North America. NS was also the pioneer of Roadrailer service. Norfolk Southern and its chief competitor, CSX Transportation, have a duopoly on the transcontinental freight rail lines in the Eastern United States.
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads.
The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive widely considered the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. It produced the first locomotive boiler explosion in the United States.
A railway roundhouse is a building with a circular or semicircular shape used by railways for servicing and storing locomotives. Traditionally, though not always the case today, these buildings surrounded or were adjacent to a turntable.
The Southern Railway was a class 1 railroad based in the Southern United States between 1894 and 1982, when it merged with the Norfolk & Western to form Norfolk Southern. The railroad was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.
In rail terminology, a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they can be moved back in the direction from which they came. This is especially true in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weigh against the construction of a turnaround wye. In the case of steam locomotives, railways needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many locomotives the top speed was lower in reverse motion. In the case of diesel locomotives, though most can be operated in either direction, they are treated as having "front ends" and "rear ends". When operated as a single unit, the railway company often prefers, or requires, that a diesel locomotive is run "front end" first. When operated as part of a multiple unit locomotive consist, the locomotives can be arranged so that the consist can be operated "front end first" no matter which direction the consist is pointed. Turntables were also used to turn observation cars so that their windowed lounge ends faced toward the rear of the train.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much of its space to the state's railroad history. The museum has the largest collection of rail relics in the Carolinas. Its Back Shop building of nearly three stories high is most notable for its size of two football fields long.
The South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company was a railroad in South Carolina that operated independently from 1830 to 1844. One of the first railroads in North America to be chartered and constructed, it provided the first steam-powered, scheduled passenger train service in the United States.
Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959, and was later restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion service on their steam program, pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States from 1987 to 1991. It is currently on static display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
The William Aiken House and Associated Railroad Structures make up a National Historic Landmark District in Charleston, South Carolina, that contains structures of South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company and the home of the company's founder, William Aiken. These structures make up one of the largest collection of surviving pre-Civil War railroad depot facilities in the United States. The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1963.
The Southern Terminal is a former railway complex located at 306 West Depot Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. The complex, which includes a passenger terminal and express depot adjacent to a large railyard, was built in 1903 by the Southern Railway. Both the terminal and depot were designed by noted train station architect Frank Pierce Milburn (1868–1926). In 1985, the terminal complex, along with several dozen warehouses and storefronts in the adjacent Old City and vicinity, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.
Altoona Works is a large railroad industrial complex in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1850 and 1925 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), to supply the railroad with locomotives, railroad cars and related equipment. For many years, it was the largest railroad shop complex in the world.
Junee railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main South line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Junee in the Junee Shire. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The West Tennessee Railroad is a shortline railroad in the Southern U.S., connecting Corinth, Mississippi, to Fulton, Kentucky, via western Tennessee. The company began operating in 1984 on a portion of the former Mobile and Ohio Railroad (M&O) main line between Jackson and Kenton, Tennessee. It significantly expanded operations in 2001 through the lease, from the Norfolk Southern Railway, of the ex-M&O south to Corinth and a former main line of the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) north to Fulton, as well as a branch from Jackson to Poplar Corner. All of these lines were part of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (ICG) prior to its 1980s program of spin-offs, during which Gibson County purchased the Jackson-Kenton line and the Southern Railway acquired the Corinth-Fulton line and Poplar Corner branch.
The Nevada-California-Oregon Railway Locomotive House and Machine Shop was built by the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway in 1889 in Reno, Nevada.
A coaling tower, coal stage, coaling plant or coaling station is a facility used to load coal as fuel into railway steam locomotives. Coaling towers were often sited at motive power depots or locomotive maintenance shops.
Norfolk and Western 611, also known as the "Spirit of Roanoke" and the "Queen of Steam", is a Norfolk and Western (N&W) class J 4-8-4 "Northern" streamlined steam locomotive built in May 1950 by the N&W's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia. It was one of the last steam passenger locomotives built in the United States and represents the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology.
Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot was a large locomotive depot consisting of two roundhouse buildings and associated facilities constructed by the New South Wales Government Railways adjacent to the marshalling yard on the Main Northern line at Broadmeadow. Construction of the locomotive depot at Broadmeadow commenced in 1923 to replace the existing crowded loco sheds at Woodville Junction at Hamilton, with the depot opening in March 1924. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Rockhampton Railway Workshops is a heritage-listed railway workshop at 380 Bolsover Street, Depot Hill, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1915 to 1953. It is also known as Rockhampton Roundhouse. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992.
