NS adds to heritage locomotive roster

Norfolk Southern said Thursday it has added the Monongahela Railway to the legacy railroads that the company is honoring with its 30th anniversary heritage paint schemes, bringing to 20 the number of predecessor roads to be so recognized.

The Monongahela Railway 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.

The locomotive will be a GE ES44AC equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes and dual mode distributed power, important features for hauling unit coal trains.

Norfolk Southern announced the heritage program March 1, including 18 legacy railroads. NS says nine locomotives have been painted in predecessor livery thus far: Central of Georgia Railway, Conrail, Interstate Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Nickel Plate Road, old Norfolk Southern Railway, Norfolk and Western Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Southern Railway. All 20 (16 of which are shown below) are expected to be delivered by the end of June, when Norfolk Southern Corp. marks its 30th anniversary. These locomotives are now operating on the NS system in revenue freight service.