Actually, it’s a Norfolk Southern Train

Technically this is a Norfolk Southern train, but Norfolk & Western-painted SD40-2 No. 1634 and its train are in Frank, Ohio, on July 14, 1984, the Sandusky District.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Sitting at the Akron Engine Facility

Norfolk & Western Alco RS11 No. 398 sits at the former Akron, Canton & Youngstown engine facility in Akron in mid-1974. The unit was built for N&W in 1959.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

On the N&W in Brewster

The wayback machine has landed us in Brewster on Sept. 3, 1980. This was Norfolk & Western territory then after having been in the domain of the Nickel Plate Road for more than a decade and of the original Wheeling & Lake Erie for several decades before that. Laid out before us is a nice array of N&W motive power of the early 1980s. Note that this was during the transition between N&W heralds.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Showing Signs of Wear

Norfolk & Western No. 2149, a former Nickel Plate Road Fairbanks-Morse H12-44 sits outside the shops in Brewster in June 1975. The unit is worn and a little battered, but that comes with the territory of having been a hard worker for all these years on the railroad.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

A Memory that Reminds Me of How Blessed I’ve Been

Sometimes I forget just how large the Wheeling & Lake Erie/Nickel Plate/Norfolk & Western shops are at Brewster.

I haven’t been to the shops in nearly two decades, but on the Sunday afternoon of Nov. 3, 1968, I was there.

Permission for photography everywhere but inside the shops was quickly given and I went out to take photos.

I must have had my wide-angle lens on my camera to get so much (but not all) of the building in the scene. More than likely I was taking a photo of the locomotives (FM H12-44, EMD SD7 or EMD SD9, and Alco switcher) more than of the scene.

Looking at the shops then, I probably did not realize that the W&LE had built steam locomotives inside the shops. To find only three locomotives outside was a surprise since often five to seven would have been in this scene.

Memories brought on by images such as this make me remember how blessed I am.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Pair of N&W Alcos in Brewster

Norfolk & Western Nos. 1005 and 1003, both of which are Alco C425 locomotives, are on tracks radiating from the turntable in Brewster in October 1972.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

An Alco S-4 in Brewster

Norfolk & Western Alco S-4 No. 2049 is framed by the turntable in Btewster in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The unit was originally on the roster of the Nickel Plate Road.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

NS Issues $500M in Green Bonds

Norfolk Southern last week issued $500 million of green bonds to fund its sustainable business initiatives.

The bonds are part of a company program to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in collaboration with the Science Based Targets Initiative.

In a news release, NS said the bond proceeds will be used for a number of purposes including improving its locomotive fleet’s fuel efficiency.

It plans to acquire Modern Tier 4 compliant high-horsepower or equivalent locomotives and use technology and/or devices that will improve efficiency, for instance.

NS said it also is investing in and expanding intermodal terminals that “promote the shift of freight from trucks to trains, using “cleaner energy” to power company operations, and supporting  “preservation or restoration of natural landscapes, such as reforestation projects.”

The Green Financing Framework is aligned with the Green Bond Principles 2018 and Green Loan Principles 2020.

NS said those initiatives “intend to promote integrity of the green financing market by offering guidelines that recommend transparency, disclosure and reporting in order to drive investors to allocate capital to projects that are more environmentally sustainable.”

NS said it expects to allocate the bond proceeds over the next three years.

N&W at Orrville

Norfolk & Western SD45 No. 1804 leads train DJ-12 eastbound in Orrville on July 25, 1984. The originated at Oakwood Yard in Detroit and was bound for the Chessie System at Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Note the open auto rack car second in the consist behind the motive power. Such a practice was common once but would not be done today.

The train is operating on the original Wheeling & Lake Erie, which has since reverted back to the modern version of the W&LE.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

N&W Days in Bellevue

Norfolk & Western Alco RS36 No. 2871 and Baldwin AS16 No. 7903 are moving four cabooses in Bellevue in late 1973. No. 7903 had by this time been repowered by EMD. Not ethe Bessemer & Lake Erie locomotive behind the cabooses. Both N&W units were originally built for the Nickel Plate Road.

Photograph by Robert Farkas