Eastern Railroad Discussion > ns track conditions?

Alright. Below this post are several comments about how bad the CSX track is getting.

How is the track on NS today as compared to lets say 10 or 20 years ago? And would you say that the NS or CSX has the better track today.

I have worked for both NS and CSX and I will say NS by far has much better tracks. They keep up with there trackage much better than CSX does. On the CSX Cincy to Toledo line, some of that track is from the 1950's !!!!!

NS definitely has better track in most spots than CSX, despite their current financial woes. Track maintenance is one thing NS is known for keeping after, for the most part. The difference is quite noticable at North Collier Yard, VA, where CSX's mainline passes right over top of NS's mainline. I don't know about elsewhere beyond Virginia, but here the difference between how the two companies maintain their tracks is remarkable here.

NS's branchline to West Point, Va. has been known to be in better shape, for example, than CSX's nearby mainlines in the Richmond area that Amtrak operates over. That's astonishing to think about, even noting that the W.P. line is a short route that sees one turn a day, and CSX's mainlines, which are in a different "degree" of service category, are maintained less frequently than NS's.

Does that partially answer your question?

Have any of you guys seen the Southern Tier???

Yes. You have shown an example that I can understand as I know the West Point line well.

There is nothing more exciting than hitting a soft spot or dip in the
tracks travelling at 50 mph!