I have always enjoyed seeing the NS F units over the years. Sad news, they will be missed. The two pics here were taken on the night I describe below. Not great pics, but a night I will not forget.
I have to tell a story about these units. A few years ago I was working a late night closing shift at air freight which is directly across from the NS mainline between Rockport Yard (Cleveland) and Berea, OH. I knew the NS OCS was headed from Altoona to Chicago and I had been tracking their progress with the hope to see them between flights. This day it was taking forever and they sat for hours enroute. Finally the OCS was reported from W150th Street in Cleveland so I headed out front to await their passing by. Several coworkers who were eager to see this train stayed past their clock out time to see this train. They were not particularly train fans but had interest in seeing this train. The NS OCS soon approached and stopped across the street from us. We decided to walk across to see it closer from the crossing. Working on an airfield, we all had lime green safety vests on, etc. Next, the crew started to come down off the units and told us they thought we were their relief. We all got a laugh as the real NS replacement crew then arrived in a van at the crossing. They walked over to us and joked, are you guys taking this so we can go home? We laughed and told them where we worked. One of our laid off airline agents had gone to work for NS as a Conductor and they mentioned knowing him. At that point they asked if any of us wanted a ride. We laughed, but the NS crew member said, seriously, ride to Toledo with us and take Amtrak 30 back home to Cleveland, or go to Chicago and fly home! They said the train was a deadhead, no Execs are onboard, and that we looked like crew anyway with our gear, so "come on." My coworkers coaxed me to go, but then I came back to the reality that I was still on the clock over at air freight for another hour. Thoughts of job abandonment and termination Vs. an F unit cab ride across the NS mainline weighed heavily on my mind as the NS crew said, we gotta go, now or never. I replied, I am missing a great offer but I just cannot do this. They closed up and the bell came on, headlights up, two blasts and then they headed west. My rarest of opportunities came and went. The next day, I saw my boss and described the situation. He said, "****, you shoulda called me, I would have cleared that for you!" I said I never thought of calling him at 1130pm to ask if I could hop an NS passenger train across from work!.
Those NS F units were clean, inside and out. You could see the illuminated engine area through the porthole windows, clean as a brand new locomotive. They were proud symbols of a quality railroad.
Given recent NS accidents that seem out of character for the NS, and other news up to this more symbolic change at NS, it is obvious NS has changed for the worse. Two string line derailments in one month in the same location?!?! That is symptomatic of a worsening culture at NS. Perhaps they are moving away from a railroad proudly honoring the grand business they are in, and are joing the ranks of just being transportation company. Perhaps everything is just getting watered down, poorer quality, less pride, ignorance of the old ways. I see it where I work, and all around.
