Norfolk Southern Corp. was created as a new holding company to acquire Norfolk & Western Railway and Southern Railway, effected June 1, 1982. Full merger went into effect on Dec. 31, 1990, as the N&W became a subsidiary of the Southern, and the latter changed its name to Norfolk Southern Railway. Here, from both the N&W and Southern combined, is a genealogy of the well-known railroads that make up today’s NS system.
Conrail (Consolidated Rail Corporation)
After the failure of Penn Central in 1970, the government formed the United States Railway Association in 1973 to develop a plan to save railroading in the Northeast. The result: Consolidated Rail Corp., which on April 1, 1976, took over the properties of the PC and six smaller railroads. On August 22, 1998, Norfolk Southern and CSX purchased 58% and 42% of Conrail stock, respectively, thus dividing the railroad between them. Each owner began operating their portion on June 1, 1999. In three jointly-owned “shared asset” areas, Conrail still exists as a local freight provider.
Norfolk & Western Railway
The Norfolk & Petersburg was chartered in 1850. It and two companions were renamed as the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1881. The Pennsylvania Railroad began purchasing interest in 1900, and owned a third of the company by 1964. PRR bowed out as the Penn Central merger pre-planning precipitated N&W expansion by merger of the Nickel Plate Road, Wabash, et al, in October 1964. N&W and Southern Railway assumed common ownership under Norfolk Southern Corp., in a merger on June 1, 1982.
Illinois Terminal Railroad
The Champaign-Urbana (Ill.) streetcar system, bought by William B. McKinley in 1890, was the foundation of an electric interurban system that expanded and became the Illinois Traction System. Parent Illinois Power & Light bought the Illinois Terminal Railroad, an Edwardsville-Alton line, in 1928. In the post-interurban era, nine Class Is formed a company to jointly acquire the IT, accomplished in June 1956 as the Illinois Terminal Railroad Co. ITRC was purchased solely by the Norfolk & Western on Sept. 1, 1981, and operations were integrated on May 8, 1982.
Virginian Railway
Deepwater Railway incorporated in West Virginia, and was acquired in 1902 by Henry Huttleston Rogers. He also incorporated the Tidewater Railway in February 1904 to build to Norfolk with the name later changed to Virginian Railway in 1907. The railroad was acquired by the Norfolk & Western on Dec. 1, 1959.
Wabash Railway
The first rails of the Wabash system, the Northern Cross Railroad, were chartered in Illinois in 1837. The name “Wabash” first appeared in 1853 with the organization of Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis. In 1915, one of a series of reorganizations created the Wabash Railway. Majority interest was later owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. In pre-planning for the Penn Central merger, the Wabash became leased to the Norfolk & Western on Oct. 16, 1964.
Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway
The line was completed in 1904 by George Gould as the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway. The goal was to link Pittsburgh with the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Ohio. The WPTR was succeeded after receivership by the Pittsburgh & West Virginia in 1916. P&WV was then leased by the Norfolk & Western in conjunction with the October 1964 merger of Nickel Plate Road. A lease was transferred to the new Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, a spinoff by Norfolk Southern, on May 17, 1990.
Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railway
The Akron, Canton & Youngstown incorporated in 1907, completing its line in 1913. It was purchased by the N&W at the time of the 1964 merger, later to be dissolved by NS on Jan. 1, 1982. Trackage was later sold to today’s Wheeling & Lake Erie.
Nickel Plate Road (New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad)
Lake Erie & Western was assembled in 1879-80 from Fremont, Ohio, to Bloomington, Ill. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis was then incorporated in 1881 for a Buffalo-Chicago line, a project reported as the “great double-track nickel-plated railroad.” The famous nickname stuck. The Nickel Plate Road, along with the prior incarnation of the Wheeling & Lake Erie, merged into the Norfolk & Western. The merger also included the purchase of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Columbus-Sandusky, Ohio, line to connect the N&W, NKP, and Wabash.
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway
The Wheeling & Lake Erie began construction from Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, northwest in 1873. Leased by Nickel Plate Road on December 1, 1949, the W&LE merged into the Norfolk & Western. Then, a Norfolk Southern subsidiary, on September 16, 1988; spun off on May 17, 1990, to a group which today uses the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway name.
Southern Railway
The first ancestor, South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company, was completed from Charleston to Hamburg in 1833. The Southern Railway was officially chartered in 1894. Many components retained a corporate identity (e.g., Alabama Great Southern; Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific; New Orleans & Northeastern). Southern merged with Norfolk & Western Railway on June 1, 1982, to form the Norfolk Southern Railway, a component of Norfolk Southern Corp.
Central of Georgia Railway
Construction began from Savannah as the Central Rail Road & Banking Co. of Georgia in December 1835. It was controlled by Illinois Central, 1909-48; and the Frisco railway, 1956-61. Central of Georgia became a subsidiary of the Southern Railway on June 17, 1963, and merged into the system on June 1, 1971.
Savannah & Atlanta Railway
Construction began from Savannah as the Brinson Railway in 1906. The Savannah & Atlanta was then incorporated in 1915 as a connection. S&A was purchased by the Central of Georgia on Aug. 22, 1951, and merged into CofG in 1971.
Georgia & Florida Railroad
The Georgia & Florida was formed from four short lines in 1906. Acquired by Southern Railway in February 1962, it merged into the Central of Georgia when the Southern absorbed the CofG on June 1, 1971.
Norfolk Southern Railroad
The Elizabeth City & Norfolk began construction in 1880, renamed Norfolk Southern Railroad in 1883, and renamed again to the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1942 after receivership. The NSR was bought by Southern Railway on Jan. 1, 1974, and merged into Southern’s Carolina & Northwestern, which assumed the NS name. The Carolina & Northwestern name was reinstated in 1981, so the NS name could be used for the 1982 N&W-Southern merger.
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What about NS’ acquisition of the majority of the Delaware and Hudson RR? And if you’re going to list such relatively diminutive lines as Illinois Terminal, Pittsburgh and W Virginia, and Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, then Erie Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, Reading, and Jersey Central are worth referencing in the Conrail paragraph.
Who maintains historic records. I’d like information on Northwest Station and Snowden Station.
The merger plan was for the N&W to become a subsidiary of the Southern.but it appeared to me that the N&W was the dominant road.
When Norfolk Southern was formed back in the 1980s, which company became the dominating group that managed the combined company, Southern or Norfolk and Western?