Railroad Companies: Difference between revisions

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In July 2025, Norfolk Southern and [https://www.up.com/ Union Pacific] announced their deal to merge, creating the first American transcontinental railroad—the Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad.<ref>Eavis, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250729130929/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/business/union-pacific-norfolk-southern-merger.html Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal], ''New York Times'', July 29, 2025.</ref> The deal must first be reviewed by the [[Railroad Regulations|Surface Transportation Board (STB)]], with the companies aiming to close by early 2027. The [[Railroad Regulations|STB]] approves rail mergers and can require that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern take actions aimed at limiting their influence, like giving competitors the right to run trains on their network.<ref>Stephens, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250729130415/https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/stb-creates-merger-resources-pages-on-its-website/ STB Creates Merger Resources Pages on Its Website], July 25, 2025.</ref>
In July 2025, Norfolk Southern and [https://www.up.com/ Union Pacific] announced their deal to merge, creating the first American transcontinental railroad—the Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad.<ref>Eavis, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250729130929/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/business/union-pacific-norfolk-southern-merger.html Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal], ''New York Times'', July 29, 2025.</ref> The deal must first be reviewed by the [[Railroad Regulations|Surface Transportation Board (STB)]], with the companies aiming to close by early 2027. The [[Railroad Regulations|STB]] approves rail mergers and can require that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern take actions aimed at limiting their influence, like giving competitors the right to run trains on their network.<ref>Stephens, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250729130415/https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/stb-creates-merger-resources-pages-on-its-website/ STB Creates Merger Resources Pages on Its Website], July 25, 2025.</ref>


== Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad Company ==
== Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) ==
Collis Potter Huntington's rail line, the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O), began exporting coal out of Southern Newport News in 1881. Huntington purchased land in the Tidewater area starting in 1865, identifying its economic potential as a natural harbor. In 1871, Huntington oversaw the C&O, which used incarcerated workers to construct the rail lines between Richmond, Virginia and the Ohio River Valley. Huntington founded a town in West Virginia for the development of coal mining, which was named Huntington, West Virginia.
In the late 1800s, industrialist Collis P. Huntington extended the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway down the Virginia Peninsula to a deep-water pier on the James River in Southeast Newport News.<ref>Citation</ref> In 1881, this railroad extension was called the Peninsula Subdivision connected a new coal pier in the small unincorporated community that would become [[Southeast Newport News]], through Richmond Virginia, and with previously isolated [https://voicesinthedust.org/Bituminous_Coal bituminous coal] fields in West Virginia.<ref>Citation</ref>


In 1881, Huntington's C&O built the Peninsula Subdivision rail line that runs from Richmond's Church Hill to the tip of Hampton Roads in what was then Warwick County. This became the foundation of coal export from Newport News, which was then a sleepy farm town.
The C&O used incarcerated workers to construct the rail lines between Richmond, Virginia and the Ohio River Valley.  
 
== Norfolk & Western Railway ==
In 1885, the Norfolk & Western (N&W) rail company was born out of the reorganized Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio railway (AM&O). Frederick J. Kimball, a civil engineer with an interest in geology, became its first Vice President. Kimball led N&W's foray into shipping and exporting coal, with the company opening a pier in Lambert’s Point for export coal in 1886.
 
There had already been an export terminal in Lambert’s Point since 1851, where it was constructed as part of the Norfolk & Petersburg railroad. Many of the early residents of Lambert’s Point were employees of the terminal. Also in this year, N&W purchased the Pocahontas Coke and Coal Company, a conglomerate that formed the coalfieds’ largest landowner and represented 400,000 acres of bituminous coal reserves.
 
By 1900, Norfolk was the lead coal exporter on the East Coast. Pier 6 at Lambert’s Point is now the largest and fastest facility for transloading coal in the Northern Hemisphere. (source: Norfolk Southern)
 
In 1982, N&W merged with Southern Railways to form Norfolk & Southern, now known as Norfolk Southern, to compete more effectively with CSX.


== Documents ==
== Documents ==
== References ==
== References ==
<references />
<references />

Revision as of 06:00, 28 January 2026

CSX

CSX train and tracks toward Southeast Newport News.
CSX train and tracks toward Southeast Newport News, 2024. Photograph by Sally Pusede.

CSX Transportation (CSX) is a Class I freight railroad company operating across the eastern U.S., especially in and out of West Virginia.[1] The company was formed through a wave of railroad mergers, with its parent company, CSX Corporation, now based in Jacksonville, Florida.

CSX is one part of a duopoly with Norfolk Southern. In 2018, CSX attempted to press monopoly charges against Norfolk Southern because of their attempts to control the crucial Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line, of which Norfolk Southern owns a slight majority.[2][3]

CSX transports coal from the Appalachian Basin, especially in West Virginia, to Southeast Newport News serving Dominion Terminal Associates and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals.

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern train and tracks in Lambert's Point.
Norfolk Southern train and tracks through Lambert's Point, 2024. Photograph by Adrian Wood.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (abbreviated as Norfolk Southern or NS) is a Class I freight railroad company based in the eastern U.S. It is one of the five biggest railroad operators in North America by revenue and one part of a duopoly with CSX. Norfolk Southern operates in 22 states and Washington, D.C. Currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Norfolk Southern was based in Norfolk, Virginia until 2021. Most of the company's revenue comes from the transportation of coal, coke, and iron ore.

Norfolk Southern was created from the 1982 merger of Southern Railways and Norfolk & Western (N&W), which was itself borne out of the reorganized Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio (AM&O) Railway.

Norfolk Southern was responsible for a high-profile train derailment, fire, and chemical release of toxic pollutants that included dioxin in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, 2023.[4] In March 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board announced a special investigation into Norfolk Southern's safety practices, as the accident in East Palestine was just one of a series of recent incidents involving the company.[5]

Norfolk Southern owns and operates the coal export terminal, Norfolk Southern Terminal Pier 6. In 2024, there were two separate accidents at the Norfolk Southern Terminal Pier 6, when train conductors were serious injured, with one requiring portions of an arm and leg to be amputated.[6][7] For more details, see: Coal Terminals.

Merger with Union Pacific

In July 2025, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific announced their deal to merge, creating the first American transcontinental railroad—the Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad.[8] The deal must first be reviewed by the Surface Transportation Board (STB), with the companies aiming to close by early 2027. The STB approves rail mergers and can require that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern take actions aimed at limiting their influence, like giving competitors the right to run trains on their network.[9]

Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O)

In the late 1800s, industrialist Collis P. Huntington extended the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway down the Virginia Peninsula to a deep-water pier on the James River in Southeast Newport News.[10] In 1881, this railroad extension was called the Peninsula Subdivision connected a new coal pier in the small unincorporated community that would become Southeast Newport News, through Richmond Virginia, and with previously isolated bituminous coal fields in West Virginia.[11]

The C&O used incarcerated workers to construct the rail lines between Richmond, Virginia and the Ohio River Valley.

Documents

References

  1. ↑ CSX, CSX System Map, 2025.
  2. ↑ Wilner, For Competing Railroads, What’s New Is Old, Railway Age, Commentary, March 11, 2025.
  3. ↑ McCabe, CSX Sues Norfolk Southern, Short-Line Railroad Over Alleged Monopoly, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot, October 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ Pilcher, EPA Turns to Legal Orders to Force Norfolk Southern to Clean Up after Train Derailment, WKRC, February 21, 2023.
  5. ↑ Jackson, NTSB Investigating Norfolk Southern Safety Practices After Series of Train Accidents, AboutLawsuits, March 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ NTSB Issues Final Report on 2024 Injury to Norfolk Southern Conductor in Norfolk, Va., Trains PRO, By Trains Staff, July 15, 2025.
  7. ↑ NTSB Final Report Addresses July 2024 Incident at NS Lambert’s Point Yard, Trains PRO, By Trains Staff, November 4, 2025.
  8. ↑ Eavis, Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal, New York Times, July 29, 2025.
  9. ↑ Stephens, STB Creates Merger Resources Pages on Its Website, July 25, 2025.
  10. ↑ Citation
  11. ↑ Citation
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