Norfolk Southern (ex-CR) weathered 50' steel side gondola #617042

Norfolk Southern (ex-CR) weathered 50' steel side gondola #617042
14 panel, fixed ends, fishbelly sides, Norfolk Southern FT #7 NS/ex-CR Rd# 617042

This gondola with Barber Roller Bearing trucks was built for Reading Railroad, and then soon after was merged into Conrail series 579394-579693. Later, it made its way to the Norfolk Southern roster and was rebuilt in the 1990s. Founded in 1982 through the mergers of Norfolk & Western and the Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern grew further in the late 1990s with the acquisition of just over half of the trackage and assets of Conrail Corporation. Today, NS is one of the largest Class 1 Railroads with over 30,000 employees and operates nearly 22,000 miles of track in the Eastern and Midwestern United States.