Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS West Point, Va. local is getting longer this month

Today's Norfolk Southern "V30" return to Richmond (they departed West Point, Va. at 1:30pm with 3 engines and 57 cars) is marked as an exceptional one, as two days of traffic are in a single train. Night-turn V24 didn't come to West Point on Fri. night, so that day's outbound traffic was added to Saturday's outbound traffic. The on-duty W. Point switcher, "V26," waited to switch today's [Sunday's] outbound traffic until V30 cleared out two yard tracks, and they also assisted the V30 crew to expedite their return to Richmond. (Today's outbound traffic will be combined for tomorrow's [Mon.] outbound traffic to create Monday night's return V24.)

This is significant in that usually it's Saturday + Sunday outbound traffic that returns to Richmond, Va. on Sunday afternoons as NS train V30.  (For historians, this former Southern Railway trackage.)

After arriving in Richmond this afternoon, V30 will become the next "V08" Turn to Crewe, Va. -- and whatever CSXT has interchanged to NS at Rocketts Jct. for Crewe (empty baking flour or sugar cars + veg. oil tank cars from Nabisco near the Richmond airport on former C&O RR, empty cement cars from the [south Richmond] Clopton Turn on former ACL RR, etc.) will be added to the outbound V08 to also go to Crewe. Also, if the local Richmond crew ("V28") has picked up any empty tank cars from Coca-Cola (on NS at Highland Springs in east-side, Richmond), they will also be added to this next V08. Since V30 did not have the caboose used as a shoving platform on teh 4-mile stretch from Burkeville to Crewe (on the former N&W mainline), it is expected that any CSXT interchange traffic may already be waiting with the caboose (coupled to the Timetable-North end) sitting in Richmond in a position which enables the outbound V08 crew to just couple up and go, and if so this cut would be added to the REAR of the W. Point train's traffic when the V08 crew comes on duty.

NOTE about the WestRock paper mill's business: each year as we approach Christmas, this mill (as well as others) has a large increase in shipments for the boxing and packaging of Christmas gifts and merchandise; this mill also produces box-paper for pizza boxes, paper bags, boxes of all types, and lots more. The list of railcar destinations fills about 5 pages of single-space typing, and these loads go to all 48 lower states, as well as into Canada and Mexico, and also to overseas destinations -- many of those out-of-country shipments go both by rail and trailer to export docks all over the eastern U.S.A. Therefore, we will see an up-tick in paper traffic coming out of all 3 of Virginia's "WestRock" paper mills during December -- from West Point, Hopewell and Covington (all 3 of these plants are in Virginia).  WestRock products include the following items:

• Corrugated Containers
• Containerboard
• Folding Cartons
• Paperboard
• Dispensing Solutions
• Displays
• Kraft Paper
• Pulp
• Partitions & Protective Packaging
• Recycling

WestRock's marketing covers

• Beauty & Personal Care
• Beverage
• Commercial Printing
• Food
• Foodservice
• Healthcare
• Home & Garden
• Retail
• Tobacco

That's some BIG BUSINESS for the railroad industry to serve.  To find where all these mills' inbound pulpwood and woodchips come from, ALSO SEE: https://www.westrock.com/en/forest-resources

Here's the NS V30 train as it departed from W. Point today at 1:30pm:

NS 3302 ENGINE (facing forward)
NS 8335 ENGINE (facing forward)
NS 3305 ENGINE (facing toward the rear)

SOU 527193 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
AOK 131855 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 524935 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
ADMX 51178 COV. HOP. (Airslide) - EMPTY (Last load: Potato Starch for coating of specialty paper)
SOU 528775 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 526873 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
EEC 8525 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
NS 407306 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 531366 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 531360 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
GATX 9950 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Rosin Sizing)
BKTY 155096 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock" [orange paint; w/ "New Orleans Public Belt RR" logo]
SOU 532475 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
BKTY 150593 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock" [w/ "GATX" leasing logo]
BKTY 150445 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
BKTY 154862 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 531249 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 527362 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 550774 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock" [w/ super-cushion draw-heads]
GATX 214333 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
PROX 93267 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
TILX 305536 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
NATX 400935 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
PROX 39187 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
TILX 150315 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry)
GATX 7660 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry) [w/ "OMYA" logo]
SHPX 201989 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry) [w/ "OMYA" logo]
PROX 17539 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Sulfuric Acid UN1830) [in all-white paint]
PROX 17557 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Sulfuric Acid UN1830) [in all-white paint]
SHQX 2271 COV-HOPPER - EMPTY (Last load: Sodium Chlorate UN1495)
NS 411015 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 531491 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 526994 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 526190 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
UTLX 41482 TANK - Loaded w/ Tall Oil or Turpentine (paper mill by-product)
SOU 531073 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
TCBX 177041 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Sodium Hydrosulfide UN2922)
ATW 749447 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock" [ex-KCS car #]
SOU 526862 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
BKTY 157016 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
BKTY 153122 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
BKTY 153694 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
NS 451010 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 531111 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
NS 451019 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
NS 451142 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
NS 406076 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock"
SOU 550583 BOX - Loaded w/ Paper "Roll-Stock" [w/ super-cushion draw-heads]
NRLX 56181 COV-HOP - EMPTY (Last load: Potato Starch) [car-body is VERY rusty]
TILX 309200 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
NATX 400985 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
PROX 30042 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
UTLX 952308 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: L.P. Gas UN1075)
GATX 5681 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry) [w/ "OMYA" logo]
UTLX 301811 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry) [w/ "OMYA" logo]
TILX 150352 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry)
TILX 150340 TANK - EMPTY (Last load: Limestone Slurry)
----------------------
(EOTD hanging off rear of above last car)

That's good news for everyone.  Linerboard and corrugated paper is a closely watched leading indicator for the economy. 

Thanks for sharing this interesting info.....

So quite a coincidence I took this from the 9Th floor of the WESTROCK building last week.
The 9Th Street bridge, C&O James river line and on the opposite river shore is the tracks to West Point.
That bridge is to the left out of site.
My point is that the executives can watch their product move to market from there desks.

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rbx551985, thanks very much for the report!  May I ask what the general operating plan is on the Richmond District?  Do crews only go one way on each run or is it a round trip to West Point?  Which jobs run which days?

Thanks so much!

Davis