The Future of Norfolk Southern's 47th Street Intermodal Terminal in Chicago, Illinois 

Fellow Chicagoan here: 47th is not as safe as they say they are. The fact that it's one of NS's most important hub is sad. The property is not well taken care of, and safety is not a priority. If you are coming in to either pick up a load or are looking for an empty unit, you basically are forced to take a bad chassis with you. To access the mechanics, you have to drive a very narrow road that risks damages to your tractor. You have about two inches on each side of clearance. Looking for an empty? Good luck. All the good ones end up "reserved" so you get whatever you get. The empty lot in NS 47 is a shit show. From the check in process in the window to the unsafe chassis in the ready to pick list, it's ridiculous they even made a video showing off the property as if they have things taken care of.

Norfolk and Southern has blocked our crossings in Hammond for a decade forcing children to climb over and crawl under to get to school.

130 million dollars over 10 years for a company like this is nothing. That's why our infrastructure in North America is in such disrepair.

As someone who lives in the Chicago area, I enjoyed watching this video considering it’s in my area! Not only that but it also perfectly explains how an intermodal yard truly works! Hopefully these yard improvements will improve company strength and traffic movement!

I used to drop and hook trailers in that yard among others we would drop right along the tracks, lots of fun watching those big lifts load and unload those train cars

Great to see less truck and more train. Our highways and streets are already too full of trucks. Please continue to invest in the port of Baltimore area intermodal too.

This is good to hear. I currently work at this yard with TTX. It's a bit messy but, still enjoy this yard....

This was cool. Thanks for the info.

47th street yard. It’s just as beautiful as all the other intermodal yards in Chicago and in such amazing neighborhoods. (SaRcAsM)

47th is cool because it was the first railyard I went to while training. But my heart goes out to 63rd because I can completely ignore i90 chicago traffic

What a awesome video. This reminds me of the Classfication Yard in Kornwesthiem Germany of the Die Bahn. Where my grandfather my mother's dad worked. And they have a intermodal yard in the classfication yard too. And I think you guys took a book out of the Die Bahn. Which is priceless to me. Sven

That drone view is so cool... I should try and use that view to design something similar on my railroad software

Everyday I'm hostlin'!

If the current Board of Directors doesn’t stop the hostile takeover attempt, there won’t be a Norfolk Southern. As much as I despise Hank Shaw, I’d rather see him in the CEO spot than the other guy Ancora is trying to put in place.

Thanks Norfolk Southern for putting me out of a job.

"55 side and 51 side". Legacy names of the PRR and ERIE installations. Can see the shadows of those yards as they were in the 1980's in the current drone shots. The connecting "Y" used to extend crosstown to 59th street yard. I see that the entire 'hood around the turns has been leveled. Used to be a very dangerous place. Wonder how much flat switching they still do in those yards. The work was phenomenal (and awkward): the video indicated that they now have separate yards for that. Good luck NS!

Calling the employees at the 47th street terminal 'professionals' is hilarious! The people working there treat you with attitude, disrespect and ignorance. This is my first time watching a video from NS and they are far from telling the truth on showing the public what their facility is really like. SMH. "Maintained with good organization, paving, striping..." Hahaha what a joke. Good luck finding your equipment, getting a good order chassis, getting a crane or yard dog to help you.

As they say imports saved the railroads but killed domestic production .

Nicely done. A little more detail on the expansion plans, which has been going on for as long as I can remember, would have been nice. Had Amtrak gotten their wish and diverted trains coming south out of Union onto the St Charles Air Line that would be less pax train conflicts to contend with.

Calumet is the one that needs an upgrade

How about you invest more money in safety instead of more rail depots.

4:00 whats with that demolished looking section?

I can't image living close to that terminal. I live near 53rd and Indiana and at night, I hear clearly the train horns and the sounds of trains being connected. So those poor souls living on Princeton and Shields --- they just catch hell at night. Regardless, I like the video --- it let me know what I referred to as the 51st terminal was actually the 47th street terminal.

Heh. In the end they tout $130M over the past decade. That's $1M per month on average. That's nothing if you consider that much of what they are considering investment/upgrades would be general maintenance for that location. That's an assumption, obviously, on my part, as I don't have the information on exactly what routine maintenance costs would be vs. upgrades, etc. As a Southsider, I'm happy to see that they seem to have mothballed the Ashland yard as we don't have nearly the amount of containers going N/S on Western Ave to 111th that we've had in the past. 10+ years ago, Western Ave. and 111th to I57 was brutal. The sad part of all this is that the RR cos. didn't build out intermodal yards before the suburban sprawl (aka the asteroid belt) took over all the land in a 45+ mile arc from the center of the city. Having grown up in the (formerly) industrial Midwest, I watched all of our manufacturing being moved to Mexico and then Asia and talked about the implications to jobs, transport, society, etc.

Well this didn't age well after yet ANOTHER derailment this morning 🙄🙄

lmao even fancy graphics and drone footage won't fool anyone. over 66k view and only 1.3k likes? No one it buying your PR stunt.

When will you EVER give way to Amtrak... I really hate yall block Amtrak on purpose and what's worse, accidents and crashes always happen with NS... why? Lack of competence?

Chicago is still very congested, unsafe and expensive. Finding reliable and honest employees in Chicago is almost impossible now. Why build there?

This is great and all but as other people with first hand experience have explained these places are in desperate need of repair, expansion and modernization... That and this industry single handedly keeps the US Railroad Infrastructure behind that of pretty much every modern nation by lobbying against Higher speed rail and dedicated passenger rail.. Until this changes... I think the hypocrisy is sick...

NS47th. Scariest damn place at 2am in the morning when I went in and out of those stinky rail yards dropping and hooking. So glad I am done with that bottom feeding job.

Thanks for an informative video. We pass some of these yards while driving through Chicago on our way to Indiana, to the Chicago Line, to see some of those intermodal trains fly through Porter-Chesterton! 😉👍

Now what about the future? Is there a second part of the video?

STOP TRAPPING COMMUTER TRAINS IN SIDIINGS--Y"ALL DON'T NEED MILE LONG TRAINS

7:04 which you refuse to work with to help make their service better and continue to cause major delays for both

👍🏾

So like we left Arkansas out

Keep that Horse running NS!

Norfolk Southern acquired its interest in the 47th Street property with the Wabash merger (1964 NW acquisition). 47th St is the former C&WI coach yard that served all of the Dearborn Station railroads: C&WI, Monon, Wabash, C&EI, GTW, Erie, except the AT&SF (SantaFe). Pennsylvania Railroad TrucTrain facility was part of the PRR's 55th Street yard. - The two yard areas have expanded into each other - over the years. NS has desired to expand to the South, as property acquired.

Fix duckville in Harrisburg. Please.

Very interesting. Thanks!

A Norfolk Southern The Chicago Illinois 47th Street yard 50% double stack train is switching yard 63rd Street yard and it turned on a mentor train yard Atlanta Georgia happy Railroading and thanks for watching.

Amazing location system you drive around yard for hours looking for your container dodging spotters trains and other truckers

Thank you very much for this very interesting and informative video presentation which is very much appreciated by us. We are absolutely delighted to see the great work being done in this location and the investment that has been made. It is beneficial for the people that there is a modal shift from long distance trucking to the use of the train. Both modes have their uses but when railroads can be used then that is better for many people.

I love this yard !!

Norfolk Southern: The Horse will be with you, always.

You've talked a lot about the present, but very little about the future...

4:49 even the fixed overhead cranes they operate are not electrified much less their mainlines

2:49 yea but you could just build freight spurs and do it yourself

As a Chicagoan, this fascinates me. Great video! I'm also excited to hear how you plan to be the first of class 1 rail carriers to phase out PSR (precision scheduling rail) so that incidents like East Palestine don't happen again.

I really hope NS well be better than last year. I hope this new Railroad route is better and no more wreaks if i see one more wreak you need help or im out.

NS could not put together a 1 car funeral without screwing it up royally and then blaming it on the deceased. Shut the door on this steaming pile.

Super video. Thanks

How do they have on in Dallas? that's BNSF & UP tracks.

Wonderful neighborhood

does this hurt o block

Ok.

Well done video.

Very nice; however, it simply shows their business plan which is about efficiency and output. Where is safety? Considering all derailments.. Any Business Continuity Plans?

Awesome! Now let's merge with the BNSF.

Why did you guys remove railroad lines around the Southern Tier region of the United States? Do you really think that will help keep trucks off the road?

I use to drop and hook at this yard and 25 other yards in Chicago. I was a all night driver. I quit because 2 blocks away on W Garfield Blvd and S Wells St at the gas station I watched a car with 4 people in it get machine gunned with many rounds hitting my truck. Everyone died except for me and the killers. It happened so fast but I remember it in slow motion. The car windows exploding towards me with shards of glass covered in blood and brains spraying out. I was stopped on S Wells St getting ready to turn onto W Garfield Blvd. I decided to stay out of Chicago, these neighborhoods are owned by the gangsters that run them and not the city. They take care of there own and everyone else is trespassing on there streets. I have much respect for them allowing me to live, they could have finished me off. I talked to a man from O Block and he said I lived because I was just a innocent truck driver trying to earn a living the hard way. The man from O Block I met randomly in Wisconsin years later, he was just schooling me about Chicago and the different types of people there. If you are a truck driver and have to go to this yard at night best wear a bullet proof vest and tote a machine gun. But keep in mind you and your truck get scanned at the gate and guns are not allowed. Sorry about that.

Meanwhile, near Bethlehem PA.

And you take the safety and wellbeing of your train crews as your top priority, or is it profit?

Does anyone know why Norfolk Southern has a horse for its logo?

All this bs. Yall can’t even get a train from Elkhart IN to Peru IN in less than 8 hours… or have Chicago to Elkhart in under 8…….. or Cleveland to Elkhart in under 10…….. what a joke!

This yard is in one of the most crime ridden parts of Chicago. Because of their neighbors they experience a lot of container break ins. Why they are choosing to expand this yard instead of moving south or west like a lot of the other railroads is a head scratcher!

Thank you for the information, you guys are the best, @norfolksoutherncorp.

fucking love trains