Our fourth installment of the "NS Atlanta North District" series covers the time period of May 2004 through August 2005. Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta North District runs approximately 150 miles between Debutts Yard in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Inman Yard in Atlanta, Georgia. The CTC-controlled single track mainline is one of Norfolk Southern’s busiest, seeing in excess of 40 trains per day. A varied mix of traffic is carried over this critical link between NS’s midwestern markets such as Cincinnati, Ohio, and its southeastern counterparts, such as Jacksonville, Florida. Several trains daily carry intermodal traffic bound for Austell’s Whitaker Yard, "hot" automobile parts traffic for Ford Motor Company’s huge facility in Hapeville just south of Atlanta, Powder River coal bound for Georgia Power Plant Scherer just north of Macon, and general merchandise.

I've always considered the Atlanta North District my "home" rails since the very busy mainline passes within a quarter mile of my home in Silver Creek, Georgia. In this video we will visit many locations between Powder Springs, Georgia, and Ooltewah, Tennessee, such as Varnell, Carbondale, Oostanaula, Berwin, Smith, Lindale, Brice, Green, Rockmart, Finch, Dallas, and Hiram. We begin our trip on a clear May 2004 morning by capturing southbound loaded grain train #50Q at Aragon with high hood NS GP38-2 #5179 in command of four other NS locomotives (including Maersk-painted SD40-2 #3329!!!) and end our journey on a hot afternoon in August 2005 by shooting southbound manifest #361 at Green with NS GP60 #7137 leading FOUR other 4-axle NS locomotives, a true RARITY on today's NS rails!