Idea for expanding NS presence on the Gulf Coast

Hello everybody.

I was looking at some maps of CSX and NS in the South recently. One thing I noticed was that CSX serves six ports on the Gulf of Mexico while NS only serves two, New Orleans and Mobile. This fact gives CSX a massive advantage in this region. This got me thinking about how NS could expand its presence in this region. This is what I came up with involving the Port of Panama City:

Norfolk Southern has a line that runs from Macon to Albany, Georgia. At Albany, it connects with the Hilton & Albany railroad which runs to shockingly, Hilton, Georgia! At Hilton it becomes the Bay Line railroad which runs via Dothan, Alabama to Panama City, Florida. Both the HAL and BAYL are owned by G&W. I don't think that G&W would be willing or sell or NS willing to buy, so we will have to settle on haulage rights as a means for NS to serve the Port of Panama City.

The HAL is currently a 25 mph railroad with jointed rail. The BAYL I believe is 40 mph with welded rail. Now for this idea to work, the entire route would need to be upgraded to 40 mph with welded rail. I don't know how much that would cost. Luckily, the entire route is already rated for 286k, the standard capacity for NS. There are several sharp curves around Columbia, Alabama, but I don't know to what extent this would cause a problem. There might also be clearance issues with some of the bridges over the line; however, this could be solved by running single stacks.

The Port of Panama City itself presents another problem. It is quite small compared to other Gulf of Mexico ports. It only handed about 50,000 TEUs in the past year. There are plans in place to greatly expand the capacity of the port, plans that could be put into motion of a big Class I like NS takes interest.

Thoughts? I like to think we got some smart people in this forum. Maybe we can turn this into a workable idea.

Shortline614 wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 12:25 pm Hello everybody.

Norfolk Southern has a line that runs from Macon to Albany, Georgia. At Albany, it connects with the Hilton & Albany railroad which runs to shockingly, Hilton, Georgia! At Hilton it becomes the Bay Line railroad which runs via Dothan, Alabama to Panama City, Florida. Both the HAL and BAYL are owned by G&W. I don't think that G&W would be willing or sell or NS willing to buy, so we will have to settle on haulage rights as a means for NS to serve the Port of Panama City.

Thoughts? I like to think we got some smart people in this forum. Maybe we can turn this into a workable idea.

Several points. The NS line Macon - Albany was once Central of Georgia (CG RR) a subsidiary of SOU RR. The line from Albany to Hilton to Dothan was once CG RR as well. That made an important connection for the BAY line at Dothan. The other was ACL now CSX ( Bow Line ) at Dothan. So was the Hilton - Dothan line transferred to Bay line operation ? Many years ago there was an overnight Pullman Atlanta - Panama City. Believe this car went on CG RR to Dothan and Bay line to Panama City ?

Any way NS might be able to get the old CG RR from Albany - Dothan back. Part would be if line is leased to G&W or sold ? Sale agreements as we know have often have had claw back provisions to original RR.
Last time I checked the Bay line only operated one freight a day using up to 5 locos leaving P City about 1900 interchanged freight to L&N ( CSX until sold ) at Cottondale and on to Dothan . Switched customers on way. Returned later that night with same reverse operation and occasionally switched cars on Graceville branch ( track not there anymore ). Arrived P City 0300 - 0600. Locos were split into individual units and Bay Line operated several day time switch locals in PC. Bay line also had a day time switch crew at Dothan whose loco was swapped whenever needed in and out of the freight consist. Do not know if the Dothan switch crew operates to Abbeville ?

Dothan local responsible to break up inbound freight and get return train ready for P City outbound train. Unknown if that setting up included getting brake test done at Dothan?

NS could run freights on Bay Line during day hours unimpeded. However the Bay Line did all its track maintenance work on the line to Dothan during day time. Believe only siding was at Cottondale interchange track ? For any kind of NS service 2 at least possible max train length sidings are needed. One south and one north of Cottondale at mid points . Might even need modifications to interchange sidings at Cottondale.

Another item. There is no signaling on the Bay Line except for the interlocking at Cottondale. Now if NS intermodal service contained a lot of Haz Mat it might put the Bay line over the PTC requirements for the amounts requiring PTC ? The Bal line carries a lot of Haz Mat. Remember the Bay line wreck that spilled chlorine and killed some crew and passing motorists.