Norfolk Southern 1073 on the New Orleans Back Belt.
Penn Central livery on Norfolk Southern 1073
NS 1073 heads Eastbound on the “Back Belt” in New Orleans. The EMD SD70ACe loco leads a short consist out to the railroad’s yard in Gentilly. Norfolk Southern 1073 crosses the back belt underpass at Marconi Avenue, as it enters New Orleans City Park. The engine bears the livery of the Penn Central Railroad, the entity that resulted from the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad. The combined entity was later acquired by Norfolk Southern, which is why it’s their heritage.
Pennsy to Penn Central
The Pennsylvania Railroad struggled in the 1960s, as the federal government built the nation’s Interstate Highway System. As the trucking industry grew, so did financial troubles for the railroads. The Pennsy absorbed the also-struggling New York Central Railroad, along with the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The Penn Central operated from 1968 to 1976.
The Penn Central went bankrupt in 1976. PC and five other struggling railroads came together to form the Consolidated Railroad system, better known as Conrail. By 1996, Conrail sought a larger railroad to buy it out. The CSX system was interested. Norfolk Southern became concerned that CSX would grow too big, so they stepped in, offering to buy a portion of Conrail. CSX and NS divided up Conrail. So, Penn Central entered the Norfolk Southern system/fold.
About Norfolk Southern 1073
Norfolk Southern photo of their Heritage units. NS1073 is 8th from the left.
Electro Motive Diesel (EMD) manufactured NS1073 in May, 2012. So, in terms of many of the locomotives you see on the rails today, 1073 is a relatively young engine. EMD started the SD70 line in 1992. This model, the SD70ACe, dates to 2005. Norfolk Southern celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012 by painting twenty locomotives in the liveries of the railroads that made up the NS system. NS 1073, new off the EMD line, got the Penn Central livery. The loco makes the occasional appearance on the back belt.
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