NS & CSX "playing nice together" on the Appalachia District

[E.M. Bell]

This past Saturday, with the weather looking to good to sit around the house all day, Carmon and myself decided to take a drive over into Virgina and see what we could find to shoot on the NS Appalachia district.

After a foggy drive over the mountain and into Big Stone Gap, we poked around awhile before we heard a CSX loaded coal train talking to the NS dispatcher about getting out onto NS rails at Big Stone. While NS and CSX are fierce competitors, they do tend to play nice with each other, when it is beneficial. In this case, a CSX train out of the KY coalfields at Loyal will get on the NS for a trip over to Frisco TN, where it will get back on CSX again for the trip on South on the former CRR. NS also will operate several coal trains a day over the CSX from St. Paul Va to Frisco...

As luck would have it this day, we would follow CSX 563 South from Big Stone to Gate City Va, and that would be it. Earlier in the day, NS had some signal issues around Yuma, and it quickly became apparent that it would be wasted time for us to stay around, as there would not be anything moving for a good while.

We didnt get a lot of shots, but it was still an enjoyable day....and yes, These are pics of a CSX train, but its on the NS, so it counts

Check the link for all of the high def stuff...below are 3 samples.   http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nsappdistrict12

A set of lightning bolt GE's in the older CSX paint scheme help to hold back the loaded train as they drop down into Jasper VA...I guess this is about as close to heritage paint as you will get on CSX in this day and age!


CSX 563 South follows Stock Creek out of Natural tunnel, as they roll through the big city of Glenita VA..


After a long, steep climb up the Goose Neck, our coal train tops over the big hill at Watkins VA...it looks like the train is falling off the face of the earth back there! Shortly, they will stop to cut the pushers off and the NS dispatcher will tell them to stay off the crossings and settle in for awhile.

[Ponce de Leon]

Nice shots!

I first wrote about this unique trackage rights arrangement in Trains in January 1991 ("You Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours"). There are always interesting ways to explain why CSX and NS dispatchers tend to play "nice" in keeping the competition's trains rolling, but the late J.J. Seay, superintendent of the Appalachia Division, once explained it like this:

A guy went to a local barber to get a shave. As he sat back in the chair, the barber slapped a straight razor back and forth along the long leather "strop" hanging down at the side. After the hot towel had soaked the guy's whiskers, he leaned him back and lathered him up real good.

Just as the barber was ready to place the razor on the customer's face for the first cut, he realized a hand had grasped the sensitive section of his private parts. The barber pulled back and said, "SIR...you're holding my ____s!!!"

"Yes, I am," responded the customer. "We're not gonna hurt each other, are we?"

The same rules apply to dispatching in this case...

[thpbears]

Those are some nice shots and That is a Very interesting story I will tell my Barber Thursday.

[Matt L]

Excellent work, Emmett! I've noticed that CSX and NS can play nice in the Buffalo area, too. Perhaps they realize there is less congestion when they cooperate.