10 of the Coolest Things About Norfolk Southern

In recent times, I have been struggling with a depression about seeing nothing but the black and white engines of Norfolk Southern leading (I live in cab signal territory which for a railfan is like a rainy dreary kind of place that is undesirable) So in light of this I have decided to create a list of the  10 perks about being a Norfolk Southern railfan. So here they are.

1. The 21st Century Steam Program: Other than Union Pacific, no current railroad in the United States can say they have a program like this, Now that Norfolk and Western 611 is about done, we can easily brag about an awesome program!
2. The 30th Anniversary Heritage Units: In 2012, Norfolk Southern ordered 20 specially painted units to celebrate how far they have come, railfans everywhere go crazy to catch these units, examples of these include Conrail, Norfolk and Western, Southern, Wabash, Pennsylvania, Erie, and Illinois Terminal among others. So definitely one of the greatest perks.
3. The Office Car Special (The Business train): Norfolk Southern restored streamliner diesels and passenger cars to create a business train for their employees, which not only provides luxury travel for them, but makes for quite a treat for us railfans.
4. The Employees: I can honestly say I have only met maybe one NS employee I did not like, and maybe then I may have caught him on a bad day, when I sent a letter to NS they sent me a heritage unit calendar and a special, edition of Trains magazine as well. I have had other employees give me shirts special cups, shot glasses, and other great memorabilia.
5. High Hood Diesels: While these are disappearing due to them being rebuilt as needed, these are some of the coolest vintage power, plus railfans love the ones with Southern Railway paint bleeding through (Including Myself)
6. Road-railers: This is perhaps one of my favorite things NS had, They were the last ones who had them, but they kept them around forever. From what I heard they are going to be putting these on trailers soon, so better catch them while you can.
7. Horseshoe Curve: This is one heck of a hot spot that NS owns, and is an engineering fathom. During World War II Hitler and the Axis Power targeted this as a place to launch an attack on.
8. Conway Yard: This massive yard is chock full of trains and just about anything can come out of the yard behind a Norfolk Southern Locomotive (unless headed up the Youngstown Line, then anything can) Anyways, with a great spot like Rochester, Pa nearby it is definitely a place to check out.
9. Operation Lifesaver Locomotives: NS has painted a number of their engines in Operation Lifesaver paint including some Dash 9's and General Purpose (geep) locomotives.
10. The Horse Head: NS is the only active Class I railroad that uses an animal as a company mascot which sets them apart from the rest.

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