Annual short line meeting focuses on safety, serivce and technology

Norfolk Southern held its annual short line marketing meeting June 5-7 in Roanoke .
This year’s theme was “Making Strides in 2005.” The company’s marketing division sponsored the meeting.

“Energy abounded as representatives from our network of 237 short lines met with NS officers from transportation, operations, marketing, strategic planning and other functions important to the development of our relationship with short line and regional railroad connections,” said John Kraemer, assistant vice president, short line marketing. “The meeting format allowed NS to showcase developments in areas designed to streamline our transportation, operations, marketing and sales interfaces with those short line connections. Our focus was on how to grow our business, take our relationship to the next level, and identify avenues to work more closely together.”

David Lawson, vice president industrial products, honors Steve Timko, vice president and general manager, Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad

Some of the key topics were safety, service, business development, and technological innovations.

The meeting kicked off with a discussion of NS safety and security initiatives. “At NS, safety is paramount, and that’s shown by our strong commitment and the industry-wide recognition we have received by earning the E.H. Harriman Gold Medal award for employee safety for 16 consecutive years,” Kraemer said.

Discussion of developments with the Thoroughbred Operating Plan, the development of Interline Service Agreements (ISA) and measurement capabilities of the ISAs were highlighted to show short lines what NS is doing to advance interchange and line haul service performance. This included technological innovations such as accessNS, a Web-based platform that includes an ISA scorecard measurement application for managing interchange performance.

“The questions to consider when assessing these measurements reports is can we do better, and what can we do to optimize our interchange performance,” Kraemer said.

Kraemer noted that this year’s attendance was an all-time high.

“There was an overwhelmingly positive response to this year’s meeting,” he said. “Of the 237 short lines, 189 individual roads were represented. The overall show of support by other NS departments showed our commitment to strengthening our bond with short line and regional railroads,” Kraemer said.

New life for Roanoke ’s East End Shops

David R. Goode, Norfolk Southern chairman and chief executive officer, joined John E. Carroll Jr., president and CEO of FreightCar America Inc., at he grand opening of FreightCar America’s new railcar manufacturing facility at NS’ former East End Shops in Roanoke. The company leased the facility from NS, and has upgraded it to build a broad range of railroad freight cars.

“Reopening these shops is important for Norfolk Southern as well as the City of Roanoke. We are happy to have a leading freight car builder in FreightCar America as our tenant,” Goode said.

“This project will re-energize an industry that has a long-standing tradition in the Roanoke Valley ,” said Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. “ Virginia ’s pro-business climate has again made a difference in securing an outstanding investment for the citizens of Roanoke .”

Kenneth D. Bridges, FreightCar America ’s senior vice president of operations, added, “We are proud to bring our expertise in building railcars to Roanoke , where we will be able to better serve our market.”

FreightCar America manufactures railroad freight cars, with particular expertise in coal-carrying railcars. In addition to coal cars, FreightCar America designs and builds flat cars, mill gondola cars, intermodal cars, coil steel cars and motor vehicle carriers.

NS receives 2004 TRANSCAER ® National Achievement Award

Norfolk Southern received the 2004 TRANSCAER National Achievement Award from the National TRANSCAER Task Group.

TRANSCAER, or Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response, is a nationwide community outreach program designed to promote chemical transportation emergency preparedness and awareness in communities. TRANSCAER fosters partnerships between chemical producers, distributors, carriers, first responders and government agencies.

NS received the National Achievement Award in the rail category for its support of TRANSCAER and for its excellence in four areas: activities, organization commitment, financial support and manpower investment.

Among its initiatives, NS held TRANSCAER events in 18 of the 22 states through which it transports hazardous materials and trained nearly 4,000 emergency responders in 261 counties. Most notable was the fall TRANSCAER Whistle Stop Tour, in which some 1,000 emergency responders were trained in five days.

“This training is strictly voluntary,” said Dave Schoendorfer, manager hazardous material, Roanoke . “This speaks of the people’s dedication to their communities and the willingness to do what is necessary to keep their environments safe.”

The company also developed a Railroad Emergency Response Planning Guide and awarded 20 scholarships for emergency responders in NS territory to attend the Association of American Railroads/Transportation Technology Center’s Emergency Response Training Center in Pueblo , Co.

“Norfolk Southern’s highly effective and wide-ranging initiatives under TRANSCAER are helping to build a more knowledgeable base of first responders along their transport lines,” said Nancy White, TRANSCAER ® program manager. “It is our great honor to recognize their work and dedication.”

“The real winners are the communities that participate in these events,” Schoendorfer said. “We greatly appreciate this award because it says good things about our company, but it is the communities that deserve much of the recognition. They really put forth great effort in ensuring their safety. They are truly remarkable.”

The award was presented at the Association of American Railroads/Bureau of Explosives Hazardous Materials Seminar in Kansas City , Mo.

TRANSCAER is sponsored by the American Chemistry Council, the Association of American Railroads, Chemical Educational Foundation, CHEMTREC ®, The Chlorine Institute Inc., and National Tank Truck Carriers.

Wheelersburg Terminal manager nominated for Chaffee Award

Kimberly Kitchen, terminal manager at the Wheelersburg ( Ohio ) Terminal, was nominated for the John H. Chaffee Environmental Excellence Award. She was among six nominees for the award, named for a leading environmentalist who understood and promoted the environmental advantages of rail transportation.

Kitchen has worked at the coal transloading, storage and blending facility for 14 years. For the past six years, she has served as the facility’s response coordinator. Her responsibilities include spill prevention and control and countermeasures for storm water pollution prevention. She created a custom environmental compliance training program for employees at the facility and has developed materials to handle fuel spills, dispose of used absorbent materials and recycle and monitor emissions.

Award ceremonies were May 25 in Washington , D.C.

Do you own a piece of Norfolk Southern history?

Here’s your chance to show it off.

2005 marks NS’ 175th year, with our roots reaching back to 1830 and the first run of the “Best Friend of Charleston” on the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road. In observance of that, permanent historical exhibits are being designed for the ground floor of the Norfolk headquarters building, and we are calling on employees, retirees and friends of the company to identify items for display.

The exhibits will focus on the history, culture and employees of NS, Southern, N&W, Conrail and their predecessors and will be open to employees and the public. To complement the company’s existing artifacts, we need tools, clothing and uniforms; items from offices and shops; signs; maps; ads; programs from special events; journals and correspondence; photos, slides and negatives; films; audio and videotapes; scrapbooks; memorabilia; magazines and news clippings; and employee publications. Use your imagination – although we will have to be selective in what we use, the more items you make us aware of, the more interesting story we can tell.

At this point, don’t send anything. Just give us a brief description of the item you might donate or loan, including its age, condition and any interesting background associated with it. Send your info to museum@nscorp.com or Museum, c/o Norfolk Southern Corp., Three Commercial Place , Norfolk Va. , 23510-9217. Call Frank Brown of the Public Relations department at 757-629-2714 (microwave 629-2714) with questions.

Once we’ve evaluated everyone’s input, we may contact you to discuss using your piece of history and how we might credit you for your contribution.

NS chemical customers earn safety awards

Norfolk Southern recognized 36 customers for safe handling of hazardous chemicals.

The customers earned the Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award by shipping more than 1,000 carloads of hazardous chemicals without incident on NS during 2004. Combined, they safely handled more than 70,000 carloads of hazardous chemicals without a single release of product.

“These companies have demonstrated in the best possible way – through accident-free handling of chemicals – their dedication to safety in their work places and in their communities,” said David R. Goode, NS chairman and chief executive officer. “Safety is Norfolk Southern’s first priority. We believe safe operations go hand in hand with good customer service. We congratulate these companies for their accomplishments and thank them for their safety-first business partnership with Norfolk Southern.”

This marks the ninth year NS has given awards to its safest chemical customers.

Duty. Honor. Country.

NS employees serving in Iraq

Sgt. Trey Thomas, a carman from Chattanooga, Tenn., arrived in Iraq November 2004 and is serving as a sniper with the 1st 278th Regimental Combat Team Tennessee National Guard. The 278th went through training at Camp Shelby , Miss. , and Fort Irwin , Cal. , before shipping out for Iraq . They expect to end their 545-day deployment and arrive back in Tennessee shortly before Thanksgiving. Thomas also served in the U.S. Navy for four years. Thomas says he dedicates his service “to the children of the United States ,” including his six-year-old daughter Carley, who “writes to Daddy to tell him how proud she is of him and wants him to hear happy things from home.”

PNC Roger Gregg , a car inspector from Knoxville , Tenn. , is finishing a stint at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq , attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24 (Seabees.) Gregg was deployed from Gulfport , Miss. , in February to work with U.S. Marines and Seabees.

“Since arriving at Al Asad, we’ve endured consistent temperatures well over 100 degrees, rocket attacks, damaged water lines and the mother of all dust storms,” Gregg said. “The storm was a mile high, 60 miles deep, traveling about 60 mph and completely engulfed our base for a brief time.”

Gregg reports that a highlight of his time at Al Asad came when Rear Adm. Michael K. Loose, commander naval facilities engineering command and the highest-ranking Seabee in the Navy, visited the troops.

Sibling rivalry on the Central Division

The Norfolk Southern family has a sibling rivalry in its ranks, and it’s on the Central Division.

Four brothers — Chad , Jason, Eric, Jeremy Roberts — work on the division. Jason, 29, Jeremy, 25 and Eric, 28 are conductors, while Chad , 34, is a locomotive engineer. Each one is working to be the best in their craft.

“My brothers used to ask questions about the company and my job, and all I had to say were great things. I loved it then and I still love it,” Chad said.

“I’ve always been interested in trains,” Eric said. “I’ve liked them since I was a kid. My brother had an influence on my interest in NS. He made it seem like such a good place to work. He wasn’t wrong.”

The brothers have worked together at times.

“I’ve worked with Chad from time to time,” Jason said. “I was the conductor and he was the engineer. I’d say we’ve all worked with one another two to three times. It was quite interesting.”

Jeremy, the youngest, worked with his brothers while in training.

“Although they required a lot from me, it didn’t seem as stressful as being with a stranger,” he said.

Family gatherings can be interesting, particularly when a conversation about work begins.

“We talk about work quite often,” Jeremy said. “We’re all quite competitive, so you can imagine how the conversation goes.”

Even with the spirit of competition, the three older brothers have plenty of advice for Jeremy.

“They give me a lot of advice on how to handle certain situations,” Jeremy said. “I’m always asking questions, and they are always giving me advice. Well, almost always.”

Having three brothers work for the same company seems to have united these brothers in the midst of their sibling rivalry.

“It is pretty special to work with my brothers,” Chad said. “I’ve enjoyed each time we’ve been able to work together. I really enjoy this job, and I’m sure they will too.”

Call for entries Acceptable formatsfor the 2006 calendar contest

It’s time to submit photos for the twelfth annual Norfolk Southern calendar contest. Win $350 and 50 calendars and have your name and photo appear on 100,000 copies. The contest is open to active employees of NS and subsidiaries.

Acceptable Formats:

Slides – horizontal images

Large format transparencies or 35 mm print. For a 35mm print, send in the negative strip along with a 4 by 6 inch print for judging. For larger format transparencies from medium format cameras, such as 6 by 4.5 mm, 6 by 6 mm, 6 by 7 mm or 6 by 9 mm, a print is not required.

Digital – Four megapixels or higher. Use the setting for the highest quality, and save the file as a TIFF image uncompressed. Capturing your image to a TIFF format uses more storage space, but it gives the highest quality image. Always use the optical zoom rather than the digital zoom to enlarge your scene. Submit the image on a CD labeled with entrant’s name, location and telephone number. Do not e-mail images. Also include a “Read Me” text file or Word file that describes the photo and gives photographer information. CDs will not be returned.

What are the judges looking for?

Calendars are distributed to employees, customers and opinion leaders, and are sold to the public. Photos depicting Norfolk Southern trains with various commodities across the system are the mainstay of the calendar. Creativity is encouraged. If you have an idea for an alternate image illustrating the strengths of Thoroughbred transportation services, these will be accepted. Judges from various departments will evaluate entries for seasonal variety, content, creativity, image quality and commodity representation.

Winning photographers agree to the use of the photograph in the calendar, related NS materials and external publications. NS will return original slides, negatives and prints but will not be responsible for loss or damage to images.

How to enter:

Fill out an entry form and provide as much information about your photos as possible. You may enter up to five images. For each image provide location and time of year. Please give any additional information you know about the train, such as origin, destination and cargo. Is there anything special about this train? Is it a new service? Is the area unique? Why did you choose this spot?

Deadline for entry: August 1, 2005

With contest questions, contact Rhonda Broom, manager advertising and promotions, Public Relations, at (757) 629-2706 or e-mail Rhonda.Broom@nscorp.com. For technical photography questions, contact Michael Bickham, imaging manager, Public Relations at (757) 629-2303 or e-mail Michael.Bickham@nscorp.com.

Send entries to:

2006 Calendar Contest
Norfolk Southern Corp.
Three Commercial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510-9217