Norfolk Southern in 1990

A special mix looking back at typical consists on NS trains around Spartanburg, SC. ©1990

[@CRQ5508]

Oh those wonderful years before the Dash-9s....

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

Didn’t they replace the U23B high hoods??

[@lukesdepotdays8432]

Yes only a couple on some short lines

[@tombell108]

Ahh the NORFOLK SOUTHERN in it's early year's! Back in 1990 NS crews would probably say;" what's a wide cab?! Long hood forward or no way at ALL! It's kind of sad not to see GP50s GP59s and SD40-2s in regular FREIGHT service anymore!! However recently on Horseshoe Curve I saw 3 SD40-2s leading a westbound short FREIGHT.

[@fakecumberland]

Long-hood forward = the right way, no matter what anyone else says.

[@ZombieSlayer-dj3wb]

And to think safer tham wide cabs to

[@zachariassiefker9249]

Nice video! Love that long-hood forward style of NS! Too bad that this was 9 years before I was born! Now these days NS is just boring, which I have to see in my lifetime! But anyways, great video!

[@Db--jt7bt]

This was 3 years before I was born. I can barely remember when trains looked like this, albeit with more graffiti. They used to be so colorful and the rolling stock was more diverse. I remember my dad reading the names of fallen flags on the cars before I could read. Like Milwaukee Road, Seaboard Coast Line, and Valdosta Southern. NS and CSX had formed but there were plenty of locomotives in predecessor livery like Chessie, Seaboard System, Family Lines, and NW. Big blue Conrail power was quite common on NS trains. By about 2001 I remember seeing hours of nothing but intermodals and unit grains.

[@railfanallen]

Glad to see you upload old videos again.

[@TheRancher250]

Awesome! Have missed your videos!

[@SOU5111]

Thanks!

[@DouglasP201]

Excellent video!!!

[@SOU5111]

Thanks!

[@jasonervoes1326]

Great video cool caboose. Do they still use it? The caboose is the one thing I like best about freight trains. You see cabooses at the state borders for long hauls. Other places they use a caboose once in a blue moon not too often. It's mostly local runs.

[@bradley.reim22]

dpu in 1990 something that you don't see everyday

[@MystiC71038]

Those are manned helper's not DPUs

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

How rare is it to see a NYSW B40-8 in SC

[@gordonvincent731]

I'm a retired engineer, and long forward is a pain. I've run E33/44s and GG1 motors. A lot of these engineers don't seem to know what a proper whistle signal for grade crossings is. 2 longs a short then a long.

[@SOU5111]

Only one was off on the whistle signal a bit. Most were correct, and the video did not show the full blowing sequence. Long hood forward was nothing too special, everyday thing for those guys back then.

[@ReadingAreaRailfan]

They didn't care as much back then what it sounded like as long as you did it plus most of them are just trying to be cool probably for the camera

[@LotusbandicootRR]

I've been watching your videos for hours but 0:42 is the first K5LA I've heard this whole time. There wasn't just a lot of motive power variety, but horns too (maybe except all the P5s). NS 6176 was working locals in my town a few years back... shame it has a P3 now and not that RS5T.

[@TrainFan119]

That sucks

[@EricKNYShinzoOCHudson]

Man Old Southern Railway #3288’s P5 is music especially at 0:13! Is it fine if I use some of the sound in the video at one point along with clips?

[@brianbooher7318]

Love them hi hoods

[@NS6711]

As of today NS lost 75 percent of it's power 😭😭

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

Most of the sold units are south of the border thankfully.

[@NS6711]

@@nicholasmedovich6729 aw thank God. NS SD60's were sold to WAMX. NS SD70M-2 were sold to Sasquehanna Railway

[@bradley.reim22]

what was NYSW doing in Spartanburg

[@gordonsnell6735]

Looks like this was before ditch lights came out

[@TrainFan119]

Was 4016 and N&W 8511 your rarest catches of that year on the NS

[@SOU5111]

NYSW 4016 was definitely a rare one for me. 8511 wasn't too bad either.

[@bradley.reim22]

is 4636 the repainted version of ols

[@damonhynes]

Illinois Terminal at 5:28!

[@chesapeakeandohiorr4350]

So Norfolk southern in 1990 was just black Color conrail trains

[@andrewbirt2834]

The first one sounds like a k5lla

[@ReadingAreaRailfan]

Andrew Birt I can't stop hearing that now 😂 it's a P5A

[@nsrailfann4life91]

Long hood forward certainly did look good. However, from an operator's standpoint, it's a pain... Such limited visibility makes for very unsafe operation. The poor visibility makes operating at restricted speed in less than ideal visibility a terrible experience. "Restricted Speed" per NS rules isn't just "Not to exceed 15 mph". There is a catch.... "Able to stop within half of the visible distance"... Operating long hood forward made that a pain in the arse, because if your visibility was 50 feet, that damned long hood ate up a good 20 feet of it, which left 30 feet... You tell me how fast you can go while being able to stop within 15 feet.... Hint, it's not even 10 mph... About the only good thing that came form running long hood forward was the added distance between crews and objects they could collide with. Even then, it still posed a significant safety risk. In the right collision, the prime mover mounts could break and the large prime mover could end up in the cab, killing the crew. Great videos! Lots of nostalgia! Just wanted to bring some insight as to why LHF isn't a common practice anymore. LHF is aesthetically pleasing for sure, but definitely wasn't as safe or as practical as everyone thought it was.

[@SOU5111]

🤔

[@nsrailfann4life91]

@@SOU5111 just stuff to think about.