Heartland Corridor Gallery

The Heartland Corridor project is a three-year engineering effort to increase intermodal freight capacity by raising vertical clearances in 28 tunnels on a Norfolk Southern rail line between the port of Hampton Roads, Va., and Chicago known as the Heartland Corridor. The first phase of the tunnel work began in October 2007.

When the project is completed in 2010, containerized freight moving in double-stack trains will be able to shave off about 200 miles and up to a day’s transit time between the East Coast and the Midwest. Currently, double-stack trains must take longer routes by way of Harrisburg, Pa., or Knoxville, Tenn. The Heartland Corridor goes across Virginia, through southern West Virginia and north through Columbus, Ohio.

Choose a thumbnail below to view progress photos.

Workers record data and install drainage strips in the Antler No. 2 Tunnel near Welch, W.Va.

A westbound train enters the east end of Big Four No. 2 Tunnel near Welch, W.Va., at night.

A car mover pushes two flat cars loaded with a substance similar to concrete that will be sprayed over the surface of the Antler No. 2 Tunnel near Welch, W.Va.

A westbound train passes through Big Four No. 1 Tunnel near Welch, W.Va., at night.