Friday, October 28, 2011

Norfolk Southern reports third-quarter 2011 results

Received the following via email.

October 26, 2011

Norfolk Southern reports third-quarter 2011 results

For 2011 vs. 2010, Norfolk Southern achieved the following records:

· Income from railway operations improved 26 percent to $938 million.
· Net income increased 24 percent to $554 million.
· Diluted earnings per share rose 34 percent to $1.59.
· The railway operating ratio improved by 2.1 percentage points to 67.5 percent.

NORFOLK, VA. – Norfolk Southern Corporation today reported record third-quarter net income of $554 million, 24 percent higher compared with $445 million for the same period of 2010. Diluted earnings per share were a record $1.59, up 34 percent, compared with $1.19 per share in the third quarter of 2010.

“Norfolk Southern produced another outstanding quarter, setting all-time records for income from operations and earnings per share, while also establishing third-quarter records for net income and operating ratio,” said Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman. “We continue to see modest improvement in most of our business groups, and we remain focused on the long-term enhancement of our franchise.”

Railway operating revenues of $2.9 billion rose 18 percent compared with the same period of 2010, primarily as the result of a 14 percent increase in revenue per unit.

General merchandise revenues were $1.4 billion, 12 percent higher compared with third-quarter 2010 results. Coal revenues increased 27 percent, to $899 million, compared with the same period last year. Intermodal revenues were $551 million, 19 percent higher compared with the third quarter of 2010.

Railway operating expenses for the quarter were $2.0 billion, 14 percent higher compared with the same period of 2010, primarily due to increased fuel expenses, which rose by $126 million, and compensation and benefits costs.

Income from railway operations climbed 26 percent to an all-time record $938 million compared with the same period last year.

The railway operating ratio improved by 2.1 percentage points to a third-quarter record 67.5 percent compared with 69.6 percent during third-quarter 2010.

Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

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Norfolk Southern contacts:
(Media) Frank Brown, 757-629-2710 ( fsbrown@nscorp.com )
(Investors) Michael Hostutler, 757-629-2861 (michael.hostutler@nscorp.com )

NS declares quarterly dividend

Received the following via email.

Oct. 25, 2011

Norfolk Southern declares quarterly dividend

NORFOLK, VA. – Norfolk Southern Corporation today announced the regular quarterly dividend of 43 cents per share on its common stock, payable on Dec. 10, to stockholders of record on Nov. 4.

Since its inception in 1982, Norfolk Southern has paid dividends on its common stock for 117 consecutive quarters.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

###

Norfolk Southern contacts:
(Media) Susan Terpay, 757-823-5204 (susan.terpay@nscorp.com)
(Investors) Michael Hostutler, 757-629-2861 (michael.hostutler@nscorp.com)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

CNJ Blue Comet Anniversary Lunch on TV

Received the following information via email and web search.

The CNJ veteran employees held a luncheon recently in the former Blue Comet obsevation car Biela which is located at the Clinton Diner (NJ).  This meeting was covered by News 12 New Jersey, a cable TV channel.   The story will air on Wednesday, 10/26/11, at 15 minutes past the hour between 5 AM and 5 PM and at other times through the night.  News 12 New Jersey is a cable only channel, so you won't find it if you use satallite or FIOS or over-the-air.  Cablevision channel 12, Comcast of NJ channel 62, and Service Electric (of Sussex and Warren Counties, NJ) channel 12.  

Monday, October 24, 2011

Finally some LEHL autumn colors!

(Train sightings on 10-22-11.)

Those hard to find splashes of autumn's colors were finally found on this Saturday morning in Three Bridges (NJ). The orange and yellow hues that seemed to dominant the foliage at this time of the season were finally seen! Some of those colors were courtesy of a rather unusual source. NS 22V and NS 290 added to the scene with their "contribution" of fall's colors to that tree's foliage which was adjacent to the LEHL. Behind 22V's motive power of NS 9372 and NS 7549 was a string of pumpkin-colored COFCs. adding their autumn color to this scene.


Later on around 12:45, NS 290's leader was UP 3927. Its presence helped to brighten up a suddenly overcast sky with its armour yellow paint in this fall setting.

Friday, October 21, 2011

RR Overpass vs. Deere Excavator arm

Received the following via email.  Photographer was not identified.

There aren't very many times I have ever been inclined to exclaim (as the younger generation now so often does) "Whoa...DUUUDE !!" This, however, would have been enough for me to do it, had I come upon this scene on the Yellowhead Highway in Saskatchewan. This unintended highway clearance project was abrupt and...LOUD! I cannot imagine the truck driver came through the sudden stop entirely unscathed. I'll bet he sure wished he'd paid closer attention to the yellow clearance sign posted on the span. Had there been a pair of 415,000-pound CP Rail locomotives crossing that span at that moment, the extra mass would have tilted the F = MA equation outcome a wee bit more in the bridge's favor. The railway was just lucky no train was approaching this spot, right then, or the outcome would have been much, much worse.

This is not an unheard of event: at the beginning of January, a truck rolled one and displaced a second RR overpass on the CN's Bessemer Subdivision, just one mile from our house here in Greenville, PA. Fortunately, the active third track bridging the road at that location was unharmed. That truck and culprit have yet to be found.

Pictures illustrate need to know your load heights.  This  happened on 10/11/11 to a CPR bridge at Lloydminster, SK, Canada.





 


Note: click on a photo to see it full size.  Then user your browser's BACK button to return here. 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Two NS 'ol soldiers labor on...

(Train sightings on 10-15-11.)

...was out along the LEHL at Three Bridges (NJ) on Saturday in search of some fall colors and only found splashes of color here and there. What I did find though was two NS diesels with a combined age of seventy-seven years working the local at BR&W's interchange. Waiting for Saturday morning's parade of NS trains 11J, 21M, 212, and 18G, NS 3201 and NS 5324 would wait on the siding for over an hour for this parade to clear. When 18G finally passed around 10:39, these two diesels would head west with six cars in a push pull mode. NS 3201 (SD40-2) is of Southern heritage and was built in 1972. NS 5324's (GP38-2) was built back in 1973 when it was PC 8151 and later would become CR 8151.


NS 18G comes east with its consist of mixed freight at 10:39. Motive power was NS 2765 and NS 8986.



NS 3201 prepares to head west to Bethlehem (PA) with six cars of mixed freight and NS 5324 at 10: 51.



NS 5324 brings up the rear on this blustery autumn morning.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Railroads in New Jersey exhibit opens Oct. 27

Received the following via email.

All Aboard: Railroads in New Jersey, 1812-1930 , a major exhibition at the Rutgers University Libraries, will open on Thursday, October 27, 2011. The exhibition, which will be on display at the Special Collections and University Archives Gallery until January 6, 2012, features rare broadsides, pamphlets, and images documenting the history of railroads in the Garden State from Rutgers University Libraries’ collections.


Lorett Treese, author of Railroads of New Jersey (2006) will speak at the exhibition opening, which will be held at 5:00 p.m. in the Remigio U. Pane Room at the Archibald S. Alexander Library in New Brunswick. For more details about the exhibition and program or to RSVP, see http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/news/11/09_nj_railroads.shtml

--

Fernanda H. Perrone
Special Collections and University Archives Rutgers University Libraries
169 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1163
voice: 732 932 7006 x363
fax: 732 932 7012
email: hperrone@rulmail.rutgers.edu

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Railroading, back then and today...

("Train" sightings on 10-8 & 9-11.) 

...is what is being talked about here, one image shows what is current compared to a second image that shows what once was in railroading. The here and now is what I observed while at my Three Bridges trackside location on Saturday morning. Three eastbound NS intermodal trains would pass by in fairly quick succession. They were NS 22V, NS 24Z and NS 202 were all carrying a wide array of assorted COFCs and TOFCs bearing the names of various transportation companies. Those NS intermodal trains represented how railroads continue to be an integral cog in bringing these manufactured goods to today’s markets.

 
NS 24Z, a Chicago to Croxton intermodal, is seen passing through Three Bridges (LEHL MP 48) on Saturday morning at 11:18. Motive power consisted of NS 9892 and NS 9689.


On Sunday, I toured the Bethlehem Steel Plant, a facility in which an in-plant railroad was also considered vital in the production of their steel products. In 1943, employment peaked at 31,523 men and women for the war effort. During the course of this walking tour, I observed the remnants of a very extensive in-plant railroad system estimated to have 300 miles of tracks. Looking out a window at the Sands Casino, I observed what remained of the high line tracks. These were the tracks that hoppers carried raw materials to the blast furnaces used in the production of making steel. Walking past another building I assumed to be Bethlehem Steel’s No 2 Machine Shop, a orange inter-plant switcher could be seen. Alas, a chain link fence combined with this switcher’s location made it impossible to get a good photo of this relic from the past.


The "High Line" as seen from the second floor window of the Sands Resort and Casino. Those tracks would carry the raw materials needed for making steel to the blast furnaces which are seen off to the right.



One of the blast furnaces into which those raw materials would be mixed. They have stood cold for such a long time that a tree is growing. It can be seen on the furnance's left side about half way up.



Those two days provided a glimpse into how railroads contributed and continue to contribute to this country's economic growth and movement of finished goods to market.

Illinois Railnet

Received the following from Kermit Geary, Jr.  Text, photo, and caption are his.

Some of the older power still in service today on the Illinois Railroad.



Illinois Railnet 5 at Peru, IL

NS and The Washington Post host transportation infrastructure summit

Received the following via email. 

October 10, 2011

Norfolk Southern and The Washington Post host transportation infrastructure summit

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Norfolk Southern and The Washington Post are convening leading thinkers in transportation, urban planning, and finance to discuss the problems and potential of the nation’s railroads, highways, bridges, and transit systems.

The summit, titled “Fixing America’s Foundation: Rebuilding Transportation Infrastructure,” will take place Oct. 14 in Washington. It is part of the Washington Post Live series of forums on key issues. (Click here to register.)

Speakers are scheduled to include U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood; U.S. Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; and Senior Fellow Robert Puentes of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mary Jordan, editor of Washington Post Live, which organizes political debates, conferences, and other news events, will moderate the day-long discussion.

“The nation’s transportation infrastructure is at a tipping point,” said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern CEO. “We need to chart the way ahead with resolve, and with concrete, achievable plans. It’s a critical discussion -- for every mode of transportation -- and the idea of bringing together top thinkers with broad perspectives is both timely and very useful.”

Norfolk Southern also is a sponsor of the CG/LA Third Annual North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, Oct. 11-13 in Washington, titled “Visualizing Competitiveness: What’s Real? What’s Not?” Darrell Wilson, NS assistant vice president government relations, will participate on panels discussing public-private partnerships.

Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

###

Norfolk Southern contacts:
(Media) Frank Brown, 757-629-2710 (fsbrown@nscorp.com)
(Investors) Michael Hostutler, 757-629-2861 (michael.hostutler@nscorp.com)

Monday, October 10, 2011

TV news story about the Kadee Company

Following link is to a TV news story about the Kadee Quality Products Company that makes model railroad products right here in the USA. 

http://kdrv.com/news/local/226703

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Conrail and Apple Computer: April 1, 1976

Received the following via email.

On April 1, 1976, Jobs and Wozniak formed Apple Computer.


On April 1, 1976, Conrail began operations at 12:01 a.m. .

"...you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. " ---Stanford University Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer on June 12, 2005

I never connected these two significant corporate 'birth/start dots' in American business history.

Monday, October 03, 2011

Lehigh and New England Slide Show

Received the following via email.

The Oldest Model Railroad Club in America invites you.

Lehigh and New England Slide Show By Richard Taylor

Friday, October 7th, 2011 at 8:00pm

The New York Society of Model Engineers will be hosting a Slide Show covering the Lehigh and New England Railroad by noted rail photographer Rich Taylor.

Numerous never before seen slides taken by Mr. Taylor and historic photos from his collection will be presented. This is your chance to see this great railroad in operation. While presenting his show Rich will be discussing the history, facilities, and operations of this famous road. ALCO FAs! Don't miss the opportunity to learn about this unique railroad.

Admission is free. All are welcome.

The presentation will be given by noted rail photographer Rich Taylor.

Date & Time: Friday, October 7th. 2010 at 8:00 pm - Doors open 7:30 pm

Due to the strong response to previous Rich Taylor slide shows this show has been moved from NYSME HQ to larger location permitting even more people to attend.

Non-NYSME members are welcome!

Location:

Rutherford Ambulance Corps Meeting Room

44 Ames Ave., Rutherford, NJ

Right in downtown Rutherford.

There is a free parking in a lot directly across the street.

You can come by train, only one block from the NJT Rutherford Train Station.

Additional Details: http://www.modelengineers.org/

Admission: FREE

If you know where the Giants and Jets play. The location is only 1 mile away.

Feel free to forward this invitation to your friends

NS QUARTERLY EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

Received the following via email.

Sept. 29, 2011

NORFOLK SOUTHERN QUARTERLY EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

We cordially invite you to join us on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. EST to review our third-quarter 2011 results. We will issue earnings results shortly after market close on Oct. 26.

For those interested in participating, we will broadcast via teleconference that will be available by dialing 877-869-3847 several minutes prior to the start of the call. At the conclusion, you may listen to an audio replay, which will be available until Nov. 2, 2011. The replay number is 877-660-6853, using PIN 2861, and access code 380050.

In conjunction with the call, a live webcast will be accessible, and presentation materials will be posted on the company's website at www.nscorp.com under the Investors section. Following the earnings call, an Internet replay of the presentation will be archived on the company’s website. In addition, the replay will be available for download to a portable audio player or computer as a MP3 - or podcast - file. Both the replay and MP3 file can be found at www.nscorp.com in the Investors section.

For electronic notification of future earnings events, we invite you to subscribe to NSInvest, Norfolk Southern’s e-mail distribution list for news releases on earnings and issues pertaining to the financial performance of Norfolk Southern. To subscribe, please follow directions on our website under the Investors section.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Hostutler
Director Investor Relations
Norfolk Southern Corporation

Updated NS Exhibit Car Highlights Benefits of Rail

Received the following via email.

Sept. 21, 2011

Updated Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car Highlights Benefits of Rail

NORFOLK, VA - The Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car rolls out of the company's Juniata Shops this week for a multistate public tour, newly equipped with enhanced displays showcasing the railroad transportation network.

The Exhibit Car is a restored 1926 Pullman passenger car that was converted to a mobile museum in 1971. In its 40 years of service as a display car, it has traveled to hundreds of cities across Norfolk Southern's railway system and has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people.

The car took a break from its tour schedule this summer for installation of high-definition monitors, digital players, a new audio system, and other upgrades to enhance the experience for guests. New backlit panels illustrate the variety of freight commodities Norfolk Southern transports across its 22-state network, opening up worlds of possibilities for the railroad's communities and customers. A diorama brings added realism to a continuously running model train showing the types of rail cars in the Norfolk Southern fleet for serving the diverse needs of the American economy.

Everyone's favorite display - the locomotive simulator - remains in the car, complete with throttle, brake, and horn putting guests in control of a virtual freight train. Upgrades to the car were completed at Norfolk Southern's Juniata Shops at Altoona, Pa., one of the largest railroad mechanical complexes in the world.

The Exhibit Car will tour from now through November on the following schedule:

· Sept. 24: Inman, S.C., 30th Annual Harvest Day Festival
· Sept. 30, Oct. 1: Gordon, Ga., Fall Line Festival
· Oct. 8, 9: Appomattox, Va., Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival
· Oct. 15, 16, 22, 23: Winnsboro, S.C., South Carolina Railroad Museum Steam Train Event
· Nov. 3-6: Duluth, Ga., Southeastern Railway Museum Model Train Days
· Nov. 18-20; Strasburg, Pa., Thomas The Tank Engine at Strasburg Railroad

Prior to its summer break for upgrades, the Exhibit Car made several other stops, visiting the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at Chattanooga, Tenn., for National Train Day; the Virginia Museum of Transportation on Roanoke Rail Day; Pulaski, Va., for rededication of the town's restored railway station; and Windber, Pa., for the Rosebud Mining Coal Miners' Memorial Weekend.

"It was amazing having the Exhibit Car here," said Bev Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Virginia Museum of Transportation. "People loved it, and from a museum perspective, it was extremely well done. This really helped make our day."

Norfolk Southern provides the Exhibit Car at no cost for community events throughout its service territory. To request the car for 2012, click here.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

###

Norfolk Southern contact:
(Media) Rick Harris, 757-629-2718 ( rwharris@nscorp.com )