# Northfolk southern



## Jayr (Sep 28, 2011)

Hello does anyone model Northfolk southern .Im wanting to model that company it runs the area im from in wva


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I was born in charleston, wva but haven't lived there in a long time.
I wouldn't say I model NS but I do have a few of those good looking
black locos with the white horse. I am in Missouri and they run here
also.


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## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

Jayr,

Don't want!! Do it!! A fine railroad to model. I am sure someone has a NS layout.

Pookybear


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Jayr,
I'm all they way up here in Idaho close to the Canadian border. We have NS run by here some times on the BNSF and Union Pacific line too! They are some sweet looking locos!


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Jayr said:


> Hello does anyone model Northfolk southern .Im wanting to model that company it runs the area im from in wva


Hmm... Lemme see here...

I think there are a couple of thoroughbreds in this picture.



















Here are a few from my current layout



















The story here is my railroad is made up from tracks that were abandoned by Norfolk & Western and now owned by the South Massey Railway. The SMRY interchanges with the NS, providing the town with world class rail service. Right now the SMRY has no engines of it's own and is leasing 6 NS engines. 2 SD40-2s, 2 GP38-2s, 1 GP35 (lease with purchase option) and 1 MP15DC. The SMRY is also looking to purchase an old NW2 as well. So while I dont model NS directly I do model NS in freelance form.

Massey


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

Though I don't model Norfolk Southern, the predominate REAL railroad around these parts is NORFOLK SOUTHERN and CSX to a little lesser degree. I do remember however when the only BIG railroad here was SOUTHERN. Back then, south of here was also the CENTRAL OF GOERGIA Railroad, but it was only a fraction in size compared to the SOUTHERN Railway. This of course was many years ago, long before NORFOLK SOUTHERN came to town.

Routerman


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Norfolk Southern came about after seaboard coast line and Chessie merged. Neither Southern or Norfolk & Western could compete alone against CSX so they merged the 2 roads to form the second Norfolk Southern Railway.

Massey


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

Massey said:


> Norfolk Southern came about after seaboard coast line and Chessie merged. Neither Southern or Norfolk & Western could compete alone against CSX so they merged the 2 roads to form the second Norfolk Southern Railway.
> 
> Massey


I often wondered what the intials CSX stood for. So, am I understanding you right that they would be for Chessie and Seaboard railroads? Thanks for the history.

Routerman


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

The execs that were running the show durring the merger could not decide on a name for the new road so they used the initials C(chessie) S(seaboard) and X (stood in for the other roads that made up both systems) and the name just stuck. It was only supposed to be a temp name. 

Norfolk Southern on the other hand was a railroad well before the NS we know today. It was bought by the Norfolk & Western and absorbed into its network. When N&W and Southern merged they brought the name back since the N&W had ownership of the name, and it combined the 2 roads' names into one.

Massey


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

Very interesting. I love old railroad history. Thanks. :thumbsup:

Routerman


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## glgraphix (Dec 21, 2008)

I was always under the impression it was the Clinchfield-Seaboard Exchange.... Esspecially considering the CSX is primarily the old Clinchfield, L&N, and all the others that were under the SCL-L&N or Family Lines..

Oh, and that the home office of the CSX is in Erwin, TN, the old Clinchfield home office...

Then again, i could be wrong??? hmmmm


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Clinchfield was already absorbed by one of the others (seaboard I think). I have a book about fallen flags at home I would have to look up once again to refresh my memory. You are right tho the Clinchfield is part of the CSX family now. 

Massey


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

According to Wikipedia (not to be taken as the gospel truth), Massey is correct in that the C is for Chessie, S for Seaboard, and X had no real meaning. THey needed something but the other acronyms the investors wanted had already been taken. SO X went in to the name.


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Here is some good wiki on CSX and NS 

CSX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSX_Transportation

NS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_southern

And the first NS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern_Railroad_(1883–1891,_1910–1942)

Massey


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

cabledawg said:


> According to Wikipedia (not to be taken as the gospel truth), Massey is correct in that the C is for Chessie, S for Seaboard, and X had no real meaning. THey needed something but the other acronyms the investors wanted had already been taken. SO X went in to the name.


I agree, as I too went to Wikipedia after I left here to see what they had to say on the matter. They were of course a little more elaborate, but basically they said the same thing as Massey. Though the "X" has no real meaning, maybe it ought to stand for "RAILROADS."  I mean, it does on railroad signs. LOL :laugh:Hmmmm..... Just an idea.:dunno:

Routerman


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## glgraphix (Dec 21, 2008)

Hmmmm... well dang, I had even been told that by a few gentlemen I really thought knew what they were talking about, lol.

Just goes to show you, you cant always trust what your told!

Thanks...

Kevin


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

You may very well be right. Wikipedia is not the absolute set-in-stone fact provider, it's just a reference point that many folks (including myslef) use for fast info. WE both agree that S is for Seaboard and X is commonly used for exchange so it could easily be that C is for Clinchfield.


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

cabledawg said:


> You may very well be right. Wikipedia is not the absolute set-in-stone fact provider, it's just a reference point that many folks (including myslef) use for fast info. WE both agree that S is for Seaboard and X is commonly used for exchange so it could easily be that C is for Clinchfield.


Well, rather than to leave this hanging and leaving me and maybe others here wondering, I really wanted to know the REAL facts about this one way or the other. So I felt what we needed here was a second authoritative opinion. So I looked up the history of the CSX Railroad. Here's what I found. This is the actual quote. 

QUOTE: The CSX Corporation was formed in 1980 for the purpose of completing the merger of the rail lines of the Seaboard Coast Line Industries and the Chessie System Inc. The Chessie System was created in 1972 to operate the Baltimore & Ohio RR (B&O RR) and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O Rwy) among other railroads. In 1986 the name of the Seaboard System RR was changed to CSX Transportation, the railroad subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. Then, in 1987 the B&O RR was merged into the C&O Rwy and the combined railroads were merged into CSX Transportation the same year. UNQUOTE: 

So it looks like that both Massey and Wikipedia were correct. Maybe this explains why from time to time I see a Chessie engine with CSX engines pulling a train. I guess it's the same reason there are sometimes Santa Fe engines with BNSF engines pulling a train.

For further reading on this, here's the linc. http://www.trainweb.org/PiedmontRR/railhst2.html

Routerman


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