Norfolk Southern’s Business Train - An Introduction

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For a site created almost solely for those wanting to learn about the Conrail OCS train, it might seem odd to have a few pages dedicated to the Norfolk Southern business train, so I feel an explanation is in order.

First, I’ll state the obvious that the Conrail business train has been gone for a quarter of a century. If you were born in the late 1990’s, there is a good chance that you never saw the train. Some of the cars, as you can see on this site, aren’t even in official railroad service anymore. The Conrail pullman green paint will have to be remembered through the memories of former Conrail employees and photographs, unlike the active Norfolk Southern train.

Second, a good number of the cars that belonged to Conrail actually came from Norfolk Southern’s predecessor railroad, the Southern Railway. L. Stanley Crane, Conrail’s CEO in the 1980’s came from the Southern Railway and brought some of his favorite cars with him, including CR 1 and CR 4. Conrail office cars CR 1 and CR 4 were nearly identical to many of the standard SOU observation cars that Mr. Crane was familiar with, like SOU 1 shown below. Today, Norfolk Southern 20 “Ohio” is one of the last observation cars still in use by a class one railroad AND still in its SOU built office car layout. NS had a large stable of this type of car, but many have been rebuilt or sold.

Third, if you have any interest in business trains today, there aren’t many that are as visually appealing as the striking Tuscan red bodies and gold lettering of the Norfolk Southern business cars. The paint scheme is classic and luxurious looking and respectfully pays homage to its Norfolk & Western heritage. If you aren’t a huge fan of Norfolk Southern, I urge you to forget about the fierce competition between Conrail and Norfolk Southern. Lay aside your opinions about the merger that happened in 1999 and how well or how poorly it seems to be run today. Let’s just focus on the Norfolk Southern business train equipment, because no matter your opinion on the railroad itself, their business train is breathtaking.

Fourth, photography and videography is so drastically different now than it was in the 1980s. Finding ANY interior shots of the Conrail office car special is difficult. The interior photos on this site (and in my Conrail OCS book) from the 1980s and 1990s took years to obtain. But this isn’t so today. Photos that were once captured on Kodak film are now so advanced, so detailed, that not only can you see every bolt in today’s photos, but the sheer amount of photos is almost overwhelming. With some searching you can find photos above, behind, in-front, and perhaps even below just about every car. When the Norfolk Southern business train departs Altoona, everyone knows about it and trackside hi-res photos and video are online within minutes. Perhaps we are indeed lucky, I wish the technology existed in Conrail’s time.

Fifth, I’m not sure I need to cover the purpose of the train as it isn’t really different than the Conrail OCS. I’ll simply quote the introduction in my and Brock Kerchner’s book on the Conrail OCS.

In addition to Conrail’s large locomotive, freight car, and maintenance-of-way equipment fleets, the railroad had a small group of special-purpose cars that it described as an “important part of the business of running a railroad.” Conrail documentation goes on to say that “these cars test the condition of our track, allow Conrail’s management to inspect the right of way and facilities at the ground level, and show customers and potential customers exactly how their freight will move.”

The business train fleet presented Conrail’s best foot forward and represented their commitment to their customers, employees, shareholders, and the railroad itself. It also offered a convenient means for management to connect with employees at terminals, customers at industries, provide education about railroad safety to the public, and solidify political allies.

While the purpose of the business train is similar to the Conrail OCS train, Norfolk Southern in the last 10+ years has favored sleeping space over the traditional office car layout, rebuilding a few of its cars in the fleet to include either more bedrooms or all bedrooms. Norfolk Southern also houses and maintains the business car fleet at the Miscellaneous Shop 2 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the same shop used by Conrail for its equipment since 1991. After the merger NS moved it’s equipment to Altoona after being stored outdoors in Norfolk, Virginia for many years. The Miscellaneous Shop 2 has now been the home for business cars for 33 years. Over the years, Norfolk Southern has also been busy updating the interiors of the cars and most now feature a modern and comfortable space. In comparison, the updated interiors are a far cry from the simple decor found in Southern and Conrail cars back in their day.

And lastly, I’ll note that during Charles “Wick” Moorman’s years at Norfolk Southern as CEO, the railroad was extremely gracious by opening up their business car equipment to curious visitors. This is how I met Dennis Pennabaker who oversaw the Norfolk Southern business train in a similar role as Conrail’s Carl Kennedy. In fact, the two worked together on the train until Carl retired in 2012, leaving the oversight of the train to Dennis. Addditionally, I got to meet Stacy Hugo Mansfield who works in Norfolk Southern’s community affairs department. When visiting the train, Dennis and Stacy, thought I was completely nuts for taking thousands of detail shots of the cars (that isn’t a joke….thousands…per car). I’m thankful for their gracious patience and to Norfolk Southern for letting me peak behind the curtains. I’m also glad to have captured the cars, some before their rebuilding. Perhaps those visits has created an opportunity for my next book, the Norfolk Southern Business and Research Car Fleet.

And so, for this series of articles, I’ll shift my focus away from the Conrail fleet for just a moment and spend some time looking at Norfolk Southern’s stylish business cars. Since photos of the equipment are everywhere, I wanted to provide an insiders look into the equipment with the help of Casey Thomason, the companies former photographer and current locomotive engineer. His insight and access to the equipment is unrivaled and I’m truly grateful to showcase his photographs.

Explore my Norfolk Southern business car series:

An Interview with Casey Thomason, NS Company Photographer

Norfolk Southern Observation Cars

Norfolk Southern Sleepers

Norfolk Southern Diners, Power Car, and Exhibit Car

If you have stories from your time riding or maintaining the train, business train booklets, or other collectibles from the NS business train, please contact me as I begin researching the train in more depth for a possible new book.