In the 1950s, Norfolk & Western was a highly profitable coal hauler, but it didn’t serve enough big cities to be a major passenger carrier. Its main passenger line was from Norfolk to Cincinnati, served by two passenger trains, the … Continue reading
This timetable is dated February 28, just two months after yesterdays, which was dated January 1. Most railroads issued timetables every three to six months, so this seems an unusually short period before a reissue. Click image to download a … Continue reading
In 1950, the Norfolk & Western had a little more than 2,100 miles of track, making it slightly smaller than the Nickel Plate, Wabash, and Erie railroads. Yet it took over the first two in 1964 and eventually its successor, … Continue reading
Apparently, traveling by train in the 1950s was so complicated that passengers needed a 32-page instruction manual. No wonder so many people were switching to automobiles! Click image to download a 10.7-MB PDF of this booklet. Depression results in increased … Continue reading
Issued just six months after yesterday’s timetable, at first glance this one looks just the same. However, one train is missing: the New York-Memphis Tenneseean. This train was operated by the Southern from Washington to Lynchburg, the Norfolk & Western … Continue reading
The boring cover and minimal use of interior advertising suggests that the Norfolk & Western was not really interested in the passenger business in 1966. But the coal-rich railroad had taken over the Wabash and several other railroads in 1964, … Continue reading
When other railroads were beginning the conversion to Diesel, the Norfolk & Western became famous for building its own steam locomotives. The 4-8-4 J-class locomotive shown in the blotter below was built in 1941, so the blotter is probably from … Continue reading
These are more blotters from the Dale Hastin collection. As usual, click the images to download PDFs of the blotters. Each of the PDFs are about 0.4 megabytes in size. Norfolk & Western celebrated its centennial in 1938 with this … Continue reading
Out of the 120,000 or so steam locomotives built and used in the United States, only about 220 were streamlined–or, as the Chicago & North Western called it, steamlined–for passenger service. Railroads went to the trouble to streamline steam locomotives … Continue reading
