NORFOLK AND WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY

major American railroad that dates back to an eight-mile single-track predecessor line opened in 1838 to connect Petersburg and City Point (now Hopewell), Va. In 1870 the City Point Rail Road and others were consolidated as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. In 1881 the system was reorganized as the Norfolk and Western Railroad, and in 1896 it was incorporated under its current name. Expansion took it to Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Detroit, and Montreal with lines running chiefly east and west to 16 states and two Canadian provinces. The rival Virginian Railroad was absorbed in 1959, and in 1964 it acquired three more lines, including the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company (the Nickel Plate). It merged with Southern Railway Company in 1982, both railways becoming subsidiaries of the newly created holding company Norfolk Southern Corporation. The main source of traffic results from carrying the immense coal output of the West Virginian coalfields. Other sources of freight revenue are grain, chemicals, and automobiles and automotive parts. The road held out against converting from steam to diesel power for a decade longer than other railroads, but it finally converted in 1960.