March 1997
New Juice Train on CSXT
K652 is a new unit juice train to move Tropicana products on CSXT from Bradenton, Florida, to a distribution center at Springdale, Ohio. The train operates one day per week, powered by two B36-7-type locomotives.
Newington Site of New Audible Defect Detector
CSXT has placed into service a new audible defect detector at Newington, Virginia (MP-CFP95.8), on the RF&P Subdivision.
CSXT Train Accidents Down by 3%
CSXT reduced train accidents by three percent in 1996 to a frequency index of 1.87 per million train miles. Norfolk Southern's frequency index was 1.99.
NS Stack Train Begins on CSXT Between Connellsville and Hagerstown
Norfolk Southern double-stack trains began operating [temporarily] on CSXT between Hagerstown, Maryland, and Connellsville, Pennsylvania, February 4. It uses Wheeling & Lake Erie crews with Norfolk Southern power. Their symbols are (eastbound) Z278 on CSXT, 128 on WLE, and 228 on NS; (westbound) Z279 on CSXT, 127 on WLE, and 227 on NS. Complete routing of the train on all three railroads is as follows: Detroit, Bellevue, Pittsburgh, Connellsville, Cumberland, Hagerstown, Front Royal, Manassas, Lynchburg and Norfolk. Formerly, the train operated by way of Ft. Wayne, Cincinnati and Knoxville.
NS Changes Control Point Names
Norfolk Southern has changed the names of many of its CTC control points. System-wide, over two-thirds of the names have changed.
UP to Have GP50's Overhauled
The Boise Locomotive Company has received a $4-million contract to overhaul ten GP50 locomotives for Union Pacific.
JD Tower Remembered
[By Allen Brougham ... a feature article] . . . This month marks the fifth anniversary of the closing of JD Tower. Since it had been my railroad home the final six and one-half years of its life, and it was I who locked the door on its final day, I thought it only fitting that I take note of the occasion a half decade since its passing. JD Tower, known as Alexandria Junction, stood in Hyattsville, Maryland, at the junction between the B&O Washington-to-Baltimore mainline and the Alexandria branch. Three different towers occupied the site in the nearly century-long history of the place, the first one dating to March of 1894. Its tenure included the terms of 18 U.S. presidents, it witnessed the movement of supplies and troops through two world wars and a number of other conflicts, it did its part in a vital link on a busy railroad, and it helped make its history. Its last day was March 5, 1992. I shall always remember JD Tower in the fondest of ways. It was my requested privilege to be its final operator, and I closed the place with a solemn ceremony honoring all of those whose duty there had made its legacy possible. Its life and times were the focus of a dedicated issue of the Bull Sheet in April 1992. Thanks for the memories, JD Tower. . . Rest in peace.