Through Manassas Gap

Norfolk Southern's B-Line between Front Royal, Virginia, and Manassas, Virginia, is a line that has largely shaped not only the current makeup of the railroad scene in Virginia, but also the states economic and social prowess. 

Originally constructed by the Manassas Gap Railroad, this rail line once stretched all the way down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was instrumental in the Union Army's Shenandoah Campaign orchestrated during the Civil War. After a series of corporate mergers placed this line into the control of the massive Southern Railway empire, this once busy mainline became a sleepy branch line passionately known as the Harrisonburg branch. The local train that would traverse the line during this era was simply known as the "Valley Queen" by crews and was responsible for serving the communities of Gainesville, Edinburg, Mount Jackson, Strasburg and many others. 

In the 1980's, a devastating crash occurred on the former Pennsylvania Railroad at Chase, Maryland, between an Amtrak train and a freight train which ended up costing the lives of dozens of people. After this incident, the government pressured Conrail to end freight operations over the Northeast Corridor which basically was the final nail in the coffin for the once mighty Potomac Yard which the Southern served. With this major interchange point between the Southern and Conrail gone, Southern's successor, Norfolk Southern, decided to upgrade the former Harrisonburg Branch to mainline standards to begin running higher priority trains to the new Conrail interchange at Hagerstown, Maryland. However, the line west of Front Royal down to Harrisonburg was not included in this upgrade and was slowly being abandoned in sections due to a lack of business. The final local train on this stretch of the line, dubbed the B-Line Extension, ran in early 2020 and the line has been railbanked ever since.

Nowadays, this line is quite busy and sees about a dozen or so through freight trains a day as well as a few locals. The line is still very scenic however and there are plenty of great places to take pictures along the right of way. In fact, numerous rural stations still stand along the route today specifically in the towns of The Plains, Front Royal, Strasburg, and Edinburg. However, the line west of Front Royal remains inactive and it is not known if the line will ever be used again. 

A friendly Norfolk Southern crew member waves outside the window of AC44C6M #4321 as the Wabtec C44-9W rebuild pulls empty coal train 741 westbound approaching Ashton Avenue in Manassas, Virginia, at 6:15 P.M. on Monday, August 30th, 2021. Possibly the most common coal train on the Washington District, 741 runs approximately once a week and can be seen at anytime on any day. Recently however, 741 has been coming very frequently during the day which is always a treat for a coal train lover such as myself. Coal trains on the Washington District are also quite unique in that they usually have pushers attached to the rear. These pushers continue to be utilized until being taken off at the terminus of all northbound empty Norfolk Southern coal trains at Shire Oaks, Pennsylvania. 

On some rare occasions, K87, the Alexandria switcher, can run as a relief move for one of the other locals. On Thursday, February 24th, 2022, K87 would do just that, running the route usually worked by K94. That day, K87 was tasked with delivering one loaded refrigerated boxcar full of potatoes to Martin Brower Distributers in Wellington, Virginia. Here we can see K87 at 3:48 P.M. with Norfolk Southern SD60E #6987 on the rear crossing Ashton Avenue in Manassas, Virginia, on its way to Martin Brower with the "fry box". Interestingly, K94 would run later but I guess this car needed to be at Martin Brower before K94 would go on duty later that day.

ES44AC #8116 leads Norfolk Southern stack train 211 eastward across Ashton Avenue in Manassas, Virginia, on Friday, June 18th, 2021. 211 is one of two normal afternoon Norfolk Southern trains as well as 227. There used to be three consistent weekday trains, 211, 214, and 227. 214 has since been cut back and 227 now runs at random times. Only 211 still runs at the same time consistently.

Norfolk Southern C40-8 #8755 and C39-8 #8575 are the two iron horses given the duty of leading the historic first run of stack train 227 through Riverton Junction, Virginia, on February 4th, 1997. As of 2022, 227 and southbound counterpart 228 still run daily but now haul timed freight as well as intermodal traffic. Here's to many more years of 227 and 228 serving this great state!