Sept. 6, 2013
Bright colors to roll on Norfolk
& Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad
NORFOLK, VA. – The Norfolk and
Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad (NPBL), a switching and terminal railroad that
serves customers in Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth, Va., is celebrating its
115th anniversary this month with receipt of a locomotive painted in the bright
red-and-maroon colors used for its first diesel locomotives in the
1950s.
For many years the NPBL, jointly
owned by the two Class I railroads that serve the region, Norfolk Southern and
CSX, has been using solid black locomotives with simple NPBL stenciling. NPBL
leases their locomotives from NS, who designed the color scheme and painted NPBL
5260, a GP 38-2. This work was done at NS’ Chattanooga Diesel Shop and will be
delivered to NPBL in the upcoming weeks. The inspiration for the vintage color
scheme was NS’ wildly popular Heritage Locomotives, a fleet of 20 locomotives
that were painted last year in colors based on NS’ predecessor
railroads.
NPBL owns 34 miles of railroad and
has trackage rights over 27.35 miles on Norfolk Southern. Its 33 employees serve
25 customers in South Hampton Roads.
Norfolk Southern
Corporation
(NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk
Southern Railway Company 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, automotive, and industrial products.
###
Contacts:
