Norfolk Southern’s Business Train - Observation Cars

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Passenger cars used in official railroad service have always been fascinating to me, but the office car has always stood out as the highlight of these trains. Sleepers are neat. Theater cars are cool. But the office car with an observation platform, observation room, bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen are the pinnacle of classic business trains.

On this page, I cover the current roster of theater, observation, and office cars used by Norfolk Southern (as of April 2024). The railroad business car fleet is always subject to change. While some railroad CEOs see the train as a valuable sales and inspection tool, others view it as an extravagant and unnecessary cost. And undoubtedly the cost to operate the train is high. L. Stanley Crane, Southern Railway and later Conrail’s CEO, thought the cost was justified, always preferring to understand what was happening on the railroad by being on it. Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s former CEO, seemed to agree with L. Stanley Crane and made heavy use of the train. During his time in office, he implemented Blue Ribbon Specials that invited employees to ride the train. Those who were chosen were greatful for the opportunity and it created a sense of camaraderie between labor and management. Since his time with the company, Norfolk Southern has largely kept its fleet intact, but it seems the train has been used far less.

Business cars are also often subject to complex histories with changing names and numbers. The photo below of Norfolk Southern 21 “Kentucky” is a good example. The car is no doubt a standard former Southern Railway office car. It would seem to match the Norfolk Southern 21 “West Virginia” before it was rebuilt in 2006. But the name “Kentucky” which is not mentioned in the Norfolk Southern history for car 21, makes tracking its lineage more complex. Conrail suffered from this as well, with many examples of inaccurate numbers and dates cited in their office car booklets.

A few years ago, Norfolk Southern produced a small book featuring each car in its business car roster and a history for each. I’ll quote this book below for each of Norfolk Southern’s observation style cars. With any luck, these cars will continue to serve NS well into the future, providing a reminder of where the industry came from and hopefully showing willing CEOs, stock holders, and customers exactly what they are getting when they purchase transportation services.

Norfolk Southern 1 “Virginia” - Office Car

HERITAGE - SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800770

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“The Virginia (NS 1) and the Carolina (NS 2) have been paired since construction by the Pullman Company for Southern Railway in 1928. The Virginia, a dining-observation car, is the perfect traveling complement to the four-bedroom sleeper Carolina.

Southern Railway first numbered the Virginia SOU 16 and the Carolina SOU 17. In 1979, car 16 became SOU 1, and car 17 was renumbered SOU 1A. Six years after the creation of Norfolk Southern in 1982, the cars were given their current names and were renumbered NS 1 and NS 2.

Historically, the Virginia/ Carolina set has been reserved for the railroad's president or chairman of the board. Today, Norfolk Southern Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman enjoys hosting guests on the cars. Over the years, many of the cars fixtures have been carefully preserved, and attention to detail is apparent. In the Virginia, metal walls are painted to appear as wood.

The Carolina was refurbished in early 2013 to a four-bedroom executive sleeper with private bathrooms and a crew room. The car interior is designed with wallpaper and wood trim with a cherry finish. The bathrooms are fitted with granite countertops and ceramic-tile floors and showers. A satellite track-vision system was installed with televisions in all five rooms.”

Norfolk Southern 3 “Claytor Lake” - (the haunted) Office Car

HERITAGE - NORFOLK & WESTERN

AMTRAK # - 800771

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“One of the more interesting bits of folklore associated with Norfolk Southern's business cars involves a purported ghost aboard the Claytor Lake.

As one story goes, railroad employees in Roanoke, Va., encountered the apparition one day in the late 1980s. One employee reported a woman appearing to float above a group of men working in the observation room of the car. She was dressed in 1960s- or 1970s-style clothing with straight hair turned up at the ends. The image of the woman appeared to gradually turn around as if to survey the employees, then she floated slowly out of the car.

As with many ghost stories, this tale has been supplemented by accounts of doors opening and closing by themselves, sounds of footsteps unaccompanied by human feet, coffee pots pouring without assistance, and sounds of the dining table being set in the middle of the night.

Pullman manufactured the car in 1924 for the Wabash Railroad.

After being numbered Wabash 10 and later Wabash 100, the car went to NW ownership during the mid-1960s when it acquired the Wabash.

The car was renumbered NW 500 and later NS 3. Mahogany paneling is its most unique decorative feature.”

Norfolk Southern 4 “Michigan” - Office Car

HERITAGE - CONRAIL / SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800356

Norfolk Southern 4 “Michigan” is a former Conrail office car and is covered extensively on the Conrail 4 page. While I have Norfolk Southern 4 listed here as an office car, it was rebuilt and is now a sleeper.

Norfolk Southern 5 “Maryland” - Office Car

HERITAGE - CONRAIL / SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800221

Norfolk Southern 5 “Maryland” is a former Conrail office car and is covered extensively on the Conrail 1 page. While NS 5 has been rebuilt, it still serves as an office car.

Norfolk Southern 7 “Pennsylvania” - Office Car

HERITAGE - CONRAIL / NORFOLK & WESTERN

AMTRAK # - 800463

Norfolk Southern 7 “Pennsylvania” is a former Conrail office car and is covered extensively on the Conrail 5 page.

Norfolk Southern 20 “Ohio” - Office Car

HERITAGE - SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800774

This car is the last of the original Southern Railway office car designs still in use on a class 1 railroad. To me, this car represents the classic office car at its best and was designed to provide an assigned railroad executive a way to tour his territory and wine and dine his guests. These office cars were a rolling home away from home for those SOU executives, with many of them spending several days at a time on the car. A chef and a male secretary travelled on these cars with the SOU executive ensuring he had everything he needed to keep his railroad running. The Southern Railway Historical Society’s TIES magazine has an absolutely fascinating article from Jack Howard about his time as a male secretary aboard the SOU office cars from 1960 - 1972. By the time these cars went to Norfolk Southern and Conrail (CR 1 and CR 4), they were not used in exactly the same way that Jack might remember, but many of the features from the SOU era remained. The cars featured a small living quarters for the chef and secretary at the vestibule end of the car and a space for the secretary to work at the hutch in the dining room. Thankfully, as of 2024, NS 20’s SOU interior configuration has been preserved for now.

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“The office car Ohio was built in fall 1920 as a 12-section, one-drawing-room sleeper named Ronneby. In October 1943, Pullman rebuilt it into a 13-section tourist sleeper and numbered it 2632. Southern Railway bought the car in December 1947 and converted it to a dinette-coach the following year.

The Ohio has the distinction of being the first of Southern's dinette-coaches completed. It was finished June 1, 1948, and numbered SOU 3103. An article in the Southern Railway Historical Association magazine Ties reported that the car made a profit of $47 in its first 10 days of service. Revenue of $431 in food and bar service exceeded costs of labor, food, spirits, and supplies totaling $384.

In March 1963, it was converted to an office car and numbered SOU 20. In 1970, it was renumbered SOU 7. It later was numbered NW 7 and finally NS 20.”

** Note: I need to do some more research on this car, but I find it hard to believe that it was ever numbered Norfolk & Western 7.

Norfolk Southern 21 “West Virginia” - Observation Lounge Car

HERITAGE - SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800775

Norfolk Southern 21 served the Southern Railway as an office car with the design being identical to the other SOU office cars. NS kept the original office car layout until 2006 when it performed a major overhaul of the car, changing the exterior window layout along with a complete interior reconfiguration. To me, the car now closely resembles the general layout of Conrail 10 with an extended platform, an open interior space that is highly configureable for dinner parties and such, a large kitchen and restrooms for guests. One of my favorite features of the car are the jump seats on the observation platform. Brilliant.

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“This car was built by Pullman between 1926 and 1929. A former heavy-weight car, the West Virginia was converted into an office car in 1950 at Southern Railway's Hayne Shop in Spartanburg, S.C., and renumbered SOU 15. It received its current number, 21, in 1985.

In 2006-2007, the West Virginia was completely renovated and converted to a lounge car.”

Norfolk Southern 23 “Buena Vista” - Theater Car

HERITAGE - SOUTHERN

AMTRAK # - 800776

Theater cars are extremely popular among riders of the business train and are often the car most guests gravitate towards when boarding. The first few seats in the car are typically reserved for the CEO or upper management when out on official business. Many theater cars have a similar design with several rows of theater style seats, a small dining area, and a kitchen. NS 23 is no different. The arched roof is an easy giveaway that the car was rebuilt by the Southern railway. Casey Thomason gives us an incredible view of the theater seats through the rear glass of the car in the shot below.

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“The Buena Vista affords an up-close look at the track from a large window at the observation end. This unique multipurpose car is used most often for roadway inspection trips by railroad officials. It features 28 theater-style seats facing the rear window.

Pullman built the car in 1918 as a 16-section sleeper named Cuyama.

Fourteen years later, in an effort to help fight the slump in passenger business caused by the Depression, Pullman rebuilt Cuyama and several other 16-section sleepers into eight-section restaurant lounge sleepers. These rebuilt cars provided lounge, meal, and sleeping accommodations in the same car. Pullman gave Cuyama a new name, La Fontaine Club.

Southern Railway acquired the car in 1948 and numbered it SOU 2409.

In 1954, the railroad converted it into a coach and renumbered it SOU 1032. In 1973, it was converted to a roadway inspection car numbered SOU 19 and named Buena Vista. Norfolk Southern numbered it NS 23 in 1985.”

Norfolk Southern 30 "Marco Polo" - Office Car

HERITAGE - CENTRAL OF GEORGIA

NS 30 “Marco Polo” was officially removed from the roster when it was donated to the Southeastern Railway Museum in November 2020. The car had been located at the Washington D.C. Amtrak terminal, protecting it from the elements for many years. Having a car strategically placed at the terminal meant NS could entertain politicians whenever needed without needing to move the business train to the city. The “Marco Polo” was unique with its pullman green paint and lettering. If you had the chance to visit the car in Washington before it was donated, you will understand that you needed a steady hand and fast lens as it was very dark inside.

History as provided by Norfolk Southern:

“The Marco Polo served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's private rail car during his days as governor of New York and through the first years of his presidency. Roosevelt used the Marco Polo until the early 1940s, when he changed to a car named for another famous explorer, Ferdinand Magellan.

In 1944, the Central of Georgia, a Norfolk Southern predecessor, acquired the car and named it Savannah after its headquarters city. In 1989, the car's original name was reassigned, and it was outfitted with a new stainless steel kitchen. Marco Polo has occupied a permanent berth at Washington, D.C.'s, Union Station since 1983, when it was brought there for a centennial celebration of the late president's birth.”

Norfolk Southern RPCX 800321 "Sandy Creek" - Observation Car

HERITAGE - NEW YORK CENTRAL

AMTRAK # - 800321

Norfolk Southern RPCX 800321 “Sandy Creek” is a rare bird indeed. Belonging to Wick Moorman, this rounded observation car was originally built for the New York Central in 1948 and has been painted in NS Tuscan Red paint. The car is stored at the Miscellaneous Shop in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Explore my Norfolk Southern business car series:

An Interview with Casey Thomason, NS Company Photographer

Norfolk Southern Business Train Series Introduction

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.