Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
Lord Atmo wrote:nazi southern? i think that mess is all settled now that the high hood issues were finished with and the old heads are out of management
Um... nope. For every old head gone, we get 3 more clueless ones..
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
oh. i admit to having limited knowledge on how NS had that nickname. i only know that some crews werent fond of having to run their locomotives backwards due to the poor visibility. and that now because of the safety cabs, the policy was dropped and it made a lot of those crews happy.
but i;m sure that wasnt all that was a problem
You have to understand that I am commenting from my perspective, and although I am in Conductor School, I dont have a basis of experience to apply as a worker or employee of the railroad. I do know however that NS has a pretty well known anti-union stance.
In my experience NS has the WORST reputation for riding. I know a lot of you on this forum are applauding that, and we dirty disgraceful hobos are not welcomed or liked in the world of trains but the fact remains that we are here whether you like it or not. Anyhow, yeah, we call it Nazi Southern because of how bad the workers are. I was personally dragged off a grainer porch in Prince of Prussia, PA at gunpoint. It wasnt a bull or the sheriff, it was the brakemen. He made me lie down on the ballast, planted a disgusting muddy boot right on my back and made a bunch of phone calls. The end result was that the yard master put on a grand apperance, showed a little more respect, i.e. he let me actually stand up and speak for myself and didnt press charges or anything. The sheriff was actually pretty decent as well, and I managed to clear some debris from the back of a church for a little bit of travelling money while in town (waiting for my next train) so the town itself wasnt nearly as anti-hobo as I assumed after dealing with that worker. Everyone I know has a Nazi-Southern-worker-from-hell story that parallels mine to some extent, about a quarter of them involve some tramp getting beat up by NS workers, or the bull, or all of the above. Plainly put they have a terrible reputation with riders. Here is an example of how much we dislike them. You know how on older units, the seats have the companies logo embedded in it? We call them seat patches. Well that is a huge point of consternation in our world, because a lot of the time it is assumed that if you have a seat patch it is because you cut it out of a working unit on a consist and the end result is that you are making it that much harder to ride trains. I know a lot of workers who dont mind us so much, but if you're in a unit, vandalizing and stealing, they are going to like us a LOT less. Ive seen kids get the crap beat out of them for even having a seat patch, that is how big of a deal it is. But when you have an NS patch, it's exactly the opposite. Everyone hates them so much that you are applauded for defacing their units and nobody is gonna say a thing about it, because NS already beats the crap out of us and hates us so much that stealing a dinky seat patch isnt gonna make it that much harder for us to ride.
So I assume Im gonna get a forum reaming due to this post, and let me clarify a few points. When I was dragged off the train at gunpoint, this happened a few years before 9/11. There wasnt the mass hysteria that everyone with a huge backpack was a terrorist. Also, I was perhaps 19 at the time and if you dont already know, Im female, and I was riding ALONE. So I just dont see how anyone can justify dragging a lone teenage girl off her train at gunpoint and making her eat ballast as doing his job. Unless, of course, he works for the good ol Nazi Southern.
my goodness. i really think the brakeman was WAY out of line with what he did to you! i'm 19 right now. and i never had such a harsh treatment by employees. perhaps the good nature of the CNW's employees carried over even after this area became UP.
i have lost a great deal of respect towards the employees of NS. but i shouldnt judge all the employees like the one who abused you. but it's sad to see that some of them are horrid people.
NS still has some nice-looking motive power at least
I've been with NS for 17 years and NS went downhill the day that N&W merged with Southern in the 80's.
Addressing a few topics......
They don't care about railroading anymore..................they are more concerned with winning the Harriman Award and doing away with FELA. If they could do away with FELA, they wouldn't care if we walked around in g-strings and tennis shoes.
Management.......................what a joke! Nowadays they are more interested in hiring "kids" fresh out of college and running them through a few weeks of training, then throwing them at different points to take care of the "bottom line". They don't want experience. They want to "mold" and brainwash these people. And the turnover rate is unreal. These people spend big bucks for an education and expect advancement opportunities. NS promises them all these great things and don't deliver. These people end up working 3rd shift in the rain and snow and last about 4 months tops. I've spoken to people in management and the turnover rate for college grads is estimated at 75%. Hmmmmm
Employee Attitude.................right now it's pretty bad. We are short-handed all over the system. And it never fails........the more you do, the more they want. Needless to say also, harassment by upper management is unreal on my division. They even show up at odd times and try their best to catch you doing something they don't like.
I could keep going on and on, but I hope you get the idea. No, I am not a disgruntled employee. I am just stating fact........from an EMPLOYEE'S perspective.
I do not have an opinion of NS per se, but its agreement employees do:
NS is so strict on discipline (suspensions, firings) that the employees refer to it as the Nazi Southern.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a long position in NS common stock (and other rails) for my portfolio.
I don't know much about them other than what I've read here in the forums and elsewhere in other publications. There were some exciting rumors going around a few years ago about them being interested in purchasing the former B&M and MEC lines from Guilford (Pan Am Railways). Us locals up here in New England were hoping it's true because NS would bring business back to the railroad instead of running it into the ground like PAR does.
John
I work in the rail industry and have always had the highest respect for the NS. I grew up on the former C&G line between Columbus, GA and Birmingham, AL, so I have a natural love for the former SOU and NW high cabs. I miss them terribly. My very first locomotive to ever go up in was a NS high cab SD40 and I remember it like yesterday. It was such an adrenaline rush climbing up in the cab at 15 years old.
NS has been awesome when it comes to sending power on roadrailers through Altoona!
NS SD60s. Now THAT'S a train!
Even catfish need some love. I still like this picture.
So THAT'S what an SD60I looks like. not bad!
Thanks to Norfolk Southern, I got lots of neat pictures like those!