Norfolk Southern Railway Connections at Karnak IL
The Norfolk & Western and Southern Railways consummated their merger of operations in 1982. The merged NS system also acquired the former "Big 4" NYC/Penn Central/Conrail line from Vincennes, IN to Cairo, IL. The NS purchase breathed new life into the decrepit line, as it was upgraded with welded rail, and increased coal traffic for a time. NS briefly served the mines in Saline Country as well...bringing that coal to Karnak IL and interchanging it to the MP...which hauled the coal to Joppa IL and the large steam generating plant.
As a result, the existence of NW and SOU equipment was the norm until around 1991...when the NS ceased operations and gave the right of way to the State of Illinois for a Bike trail. For modeling purposes, I will use Bowser's 100 ton coal hopper for a close "match" for the NW's similar car. The Southern equipment gets a bit more troubling, but I will use Athearn's 9 panel former MDC cars where available. For now, the NS fleet consists of 56 Bowser 100 ton 3 bay hoppers and 4 Athearn ex-MDC 3 bay (70 ton) hoppers.
I had originally planned to model the Conrail operations...but instead went with the NS era...since it covers 1982 to 1991. Much broader appeal with the pre-merger MP paint schemes, and post-merger; of course!! Basic operations consist of a daily MP local switching Karnak and picking up loads; taking them to Joppa; sorting MTY's at Joppa; and taking them back north to Karnak; and spotting them in the interchange yard.