Saturday, April 05, 2014

NS announces 2014 schedule of 21st Century Steam excursions

Received the following via email.

April 4, 2014

Norfolk Southern announces 2014 schedule of 21st Century Steam excursions

NORFOLK, VA. – A new season of “21st Century Steam” train excursions has launched, with Norfolk Southern Corporation and partners Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society scheduling 18 excursions in seven states from April through July.

Tickets for the trains listed below are available through the websites of TVRM (www.tvrail.com) and FWRHS (www.fortwaynerailroad.org). Some trains are Norfolk Southern employee specials as noted on the schedule and are not available to the general public. All excursions are round trip.

Here is the schedule through July 13.

Date/Train Name/Other info
Origin – Turn Point/Destination
Locomotive
Operator
April 5 Radford Rambler
Bristol – Radford, Va.
SOU 630
April 6  Lonesome Pine Limited
Bristol – Bulls Gap, TN
SOU 630
April 12, 13, & 19
The Tri-County Mountaineer
Grundy, Va. – Devon, W.Va.
SOU 630
May 3 & 4
The Commodore Vanderbilt
Norfolk Southern Employee Special
Elkhart, Ind. – Bryan, Ohio
NKP 765
May 10 & 11
The Nickel Plate Limited
Norfolk Southern Employee Special
Chicago, Ill. – Argos, Ind.
NKP 765
May 17 & 18 The New Royal Palm
Cincinnati, Ohio – Danville, Ky.
SOU 630
May 31 &  June 1 Lexington Limited
Lexington, Ky. – Oneida, Tenn.
SOU 630
June 7 Steam Anniversary Special
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Oneida, Tenn.
SOU 630
July 5 & 6
The Mercury Express
Norfolk Southern Employee Special
Detroit, Mich. – Toledo, Ohio
NKP 765
July 12 & 13 Detroit Arrow
Tickets available April 16
Detroit, Mich. – Fort Wayne, Ind.
NKP 765



Southern Railway No. 630 was built in 1904 by American Locomotive Company at Richmond, Va., and has been a mainstay of 21st Century Steam excursions after having been rebuilt in TVRM’s Chattanooga shops. Nickel Plate Road No. 765 was built in 1944 by Lima Locomotive Works at Lima, Ohio, and is familiar to many railroaders, having been in excursion service on and off since 1979.

On June 7, TVRM will operate the Steam Anniversary Special in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 train from Stearns, Ky., to Chattanooga that led to Southern Railway’s launch of a steam excursion program the same year. The June 6, 1964, train was powered by Southern Railway Locomotive 4501, which now is being rebuilt at TVRM’s Chattanooga shops. Southern’s excursion program operated from 1964 to 1994. In 2010, Norfolk Southern and TVRM announced plans to launch “21st Century Steam” to highlight milestones in rail history and provide opportunities for audiences to learn about today’s safe and service-oriented freight railroads. The inaugural excursions took place during Labor Day weekend 2011, powered by the 630.

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.

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Norfolk Southern contacts:
(Media) Rick Harris, 757-629-2710 (rick.harris@nscorp.com)
(Investors) Michael Hostutler, 757-629-2861 (michael.hostutler@nscorp.com)

TVRM contact:
Steve Freer, 423-331-4501 (sfreer@tvrail.com)

FWRHS contact:
Kelly Lynch, 260-493-2766 (lynch@fwrhs.org)