Hey, I'm just asking where are the best train watching spots in all of Hampton Roads, VA? (other than the Williamsburg, Newport News, and Norfolk train stations)
There are plenty of sites around. The big railroad on the south side is NS, and the station area by Harbor Park is a good spot. If you want to check out the mother-slug sets used at Lambert's Point, I would recommend The Ghent shopping district around Colley Ave. and 22nd St. Portlock Yard in South Norfolk is the hub of NS's local operations, at the north end is a wye connection with the Sewall's Point/ NIT line (old Virginian main line) and a junction with the Chesapeake & Albemarle which runs the old NS line down into NC. The Bay Coast RR will have an occasional run into Portlock from their yard at Little Creek. Leaving Norfolk, NS trains are visible at the Triple-Deck bridge over Bainbridge Blvd.
The other Class 1 in the area is CSX. Their major facility is the Newport News coal yard. The best spot I remember for train watching there is up in Lightfoot at the Pottery Factory. CSX also comes to the south side and has some small yards in Portsmouth.
Ns and CSX both interchange with the Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line (NPBL), whose main yard is in Berkely just off I-464. NPBL handles all the local industry switching in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake for the two Class 1's.
NS and CSX both pass through Suffolk to get to Norfolk, and there are a lot of places there to watch them. They both interchange intermodal trains to & from the APM/Maersk terminal with the Commonwealth Railway, a G&W shortline which runs on the old Atlantic & Danville from Suffolk eastward.
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