40 Years of Norfolk Southern Volume 2
This is Volume 2 of Norfolk Southern’s 40th anniversary.
In the last year of the 20th century, the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) was divided into two shares: 42 percent for CSX and 58% for Norfolk Southern. The Conrail split of 1999 brought several locomotive types that NS never bought earlier. For example, it acquired more wide-cab models such as the Electro-Motive SD60M/SD60I and the General Electric DASH 8-40CW with desktop controls. A year before the split, however, Conrail received its fleet of EMD low-nose SD70’s, all built to NS specifications. For that reason, the blue-painted units were given numbers within the same 2500-series as the black NS units purchased earlier, so there was no need for renumbering after the split. To make things even more unusual, Conrail ended up with some of the wide-cab, AC-motored SD70MAC’s, all fabricated to CSX specs. Consequently, NS acquired the DC-traction, standard-cab SD70 units while CSX assumed ownership of the MAC units. Speaking of AC traction, one of Conrail’s most unique locomotives was the EMD 5,000-horsepower SD80MAC, all of which were built for that same railroad. At first, NS was reluctant to own any AC-motored diesels but CSX could have attempted to possess all 30 of these 20-cylinder 80MAC’s. However, the final decision was to pass 17 units over to the former and 13 to the latter. This caused the EMD SD80 to be Norfolk Southern’s first AC-traction locomotive fleet ever acquired.
In 2000, Norfolk Southern took delivery of the DC-motored SD70M locomotives, its first new Electro-Motive wide cabs. A couple of years later, the railroad planned a new corporate paint scheme while retaining the same black color. The NS logo was modified to add a horsehead integrated to the letters. Around the headlights and numberboards above the locomotive’s windshield is some white paint for increased visibility on the outside. A GP38-2 number 5553 (rebuilt from an original EMD GP38) was the first to wear the “Horsehead” scheme. Within the next few years, EMD and GE were designing newer models with cleaner and more fuel-efficient engines to comply with the Tier 2 emissions standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. NS was one of the first railroads to use pre-production locomotives of the GE Evolution Series. As a similar case to the DASH 9-40CW, NS requested the ES40DC, the 4,000-hp version of the ES44DC. The first of the GEVO-powered ES40’s were delivered to the railroad in 2004. Meanwhile, EMD introduced the SD70ACe and its DC-motored brother, the SD70M-2. Due to its obsession with DC traction, NS chose the latter from that builder. After being convinced about the benefits of AC traction, Norfolk Southern finally purchased its first new AC locomotives in 2008: 24 ES44AC’s from GE. CSX initially placed an order for these units but decided to cancel it, although they were built to that railroad’s specifications. Three years later, NS bought its first SD70ACe locomotives from EMD.
Of course, 2012 was Norfolk Southern’s 30th anniversary and the railroad had a huge opportunity to celebrate it. While the normal black paint scheme was inspired by those from the Norfolk & Western and the Southern railroads, NS wanted to decorate 20 locomotives in colorful heritage schemes of its predecessors. First, it received nine new General Electric ES44AC’s and painted them at two of its locomotive shops: one in Altoona, Pennsylvania and another in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Additionally, it repainted an existing ES44 (built in 2010) for the heritage program. Next, ten new Electro-Motive SD70ACe units were to be added and the builder was interestingly kind enough to paint them at its factory in Muncie, Indiana. It should be noted that the 20 heritage diesels are not the first NS locomotives coated in full color. In 1983, the railroad chose an EMD SW1500 switcher as its first specially painted unit to commemorate 250 years of Savannah, Georgia, which was the assigned location for that switcher. It was renumbered from 2311 to 1733 and given the name River Street Rambler. Perhaps a more well-known heritage locomotive prior to 2012 was a GP59 number 4610, repainted in the classic green-and-gold scheme of the Southern Railway. It debuted in 1994, which marked 100 years since the consolidation of many railroads to become the Southern.
Norfolk Southern has rebuilt many different types of locomotives, especially the high-hood units that had their noses chopped and replaced by low noses. Let’s name several noteworthy rebuild programs. NS converted many of its EMD SD50’s into SD40E’s by derating the engine output from 3,500 to 3,000 horsepower and installing the EM2000 microprocessor control system. Other programs involve a new crashworthy wide nose that replaced the old narrow one. For example, the SD60’s were rebuilt into SD60E’s with the distinctive “Crescent Cabs” and three of them were also painted in special schemes to honor military veterans, first responders, and the tenth anniversary of an organization called GORail. A similar but short-lived project was to convert some of the GE DASH 8-40C’s with comfort cabs and other modern upgrades; thus, these were dubbed the DASH 8.5-40CW.
Norfolk Southern’s biggest and most successful rebuild program is the ongoing conversion of the DC-motored DASH 9-40CW’s to AC traction, beginning in 2015. This is referred to as “DC-to-AC” or “DC2AC”. Two years prior to modernization, all of the 4,000-horsepower DASH 9's as well as the ES40DC's were upgraded to the standard 4,400-hp rating. The narrow-nose DASH 9-40C's were the first to be modernized into what became the six-motor AC44C6M class, and all of these old GE conventional cabs were gone by 2018. In the same year, NS introduced a similar GE DC2AC program by modifying a single C40-9W with six AC motors and other electrical equipment manufactured by a Spanish builder called CAF. The prototype was numbered 8520 and designated as AC44C6CF. Another DC-to-AC program involves the EMD low-nose SD70’s to be converted as SD70ACC’s. Like the GE AC44C6M, the ACC features the comfort cab. As of this blog post, it is announced that Norfolk Southern’s last EMD DC-motored locomotives, the SD70M-2’s, will be upgraded with AC traction. Both the GE and EMD DC-to-AC modernizations include a few locomotives in commemorative paint schemes as a kickoff to each program. NS has even upgraded many pre-owned, AC-motored SD90/43MAC units into SD70ACU’s.
In addition to mainline locomotives, Norfolk Southern has modernized many of its smaller and less powerful diesels for yard and local duties, most notably the Electro-Motive 710ECO Repower program. It includes the following models: GP22ECO (rebuilt from GP38AC), GP59ECO (formerly GP50 and GP59), GP33ECO (ex-GP50 and GP38-2), SD33ECO (ex-SD40 and SD40-2), and the Tier 4 emissions-compliant GP34ECO (ex-GP59). The latter three types were all painted in attractive two-tone green schemes and also have a state map to represent their assigned locations, except for the GP34 prototype. Let’s not forget the classic EMD A-B-B-A cab unit set consisting of two F9A’s and two F7B’s. NS rebuilt these venerable locomotives in 2007 for its executive passenger train (also known as “office car special”). Ironically, the F units were never owned by any predecessor railroad that became a property of NS. While locomotive rebuilds/modernizations tend to cost less than new locomotives, the most recent model on the NS roster is the General Electric Tier 4 ET44AC, delivered between 2016 and 2017. However, the railroad has received additional ES44AC’s and SD70ACe’s, all of which are classified as Tier 4 credit users.
Moving into the present, NS has been utilizing the infamous Precision Scheduled Railroading business technique since 2018, causing a lot of locomotives to be obsolete. Even though some of your favorite diesels might have been rebuilt or eliminated from its roster, you can always cherish the memories of these workhorses that plied the American rails during the first 40 years of the Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Photo credit: pafotofan
