(The following story by Kathy Adams appeared at hamptonroads.com on December 7, 2008)
HAMPTON ROADS, Va – In a camouflage baseball cap and orange Harley-Davidson T-shirt, Mike Barton doesn’t look much like Santa Claus. He drives a 4,000-horsepower locomotive instead of eight flying reindeer. And his business travels aren’t limited to one night each year.
Still, he plays a key role in delivering Christmas cargo to people – both naughty and nice.
As a train engineer for Norfolk Southern Railway Co., Barton is part of a rail network that transports goods from the port of Hampton Roads to distribution centers throughout the Northeast. The Norfolk-based railroad hauls toys, electronics, clothing, cars and other cargo to stores just in time for holiday shopping. That’s in addition to transporting the materials used to build houses and the coal used to light and heat them.
“They’re boxes that contain any variety of freight,” said Robin Chapman, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern. “You name it, it’s in there. If you can buy it at Target or Wal-Mart, it’s in a container coming in.”
Overseas manufacturers ship their goods in cargo containers to the port of Hampton Roads. Dockworkers there load the metal boxes onto trucks or rail cars to be distributed throughout the mid-Atlantic, East Coast and Midwest regions.
It’s known as intermodal transportation. The truck-size metal boxes called containers can be moved easily between modes such as ships, trains and trucks.
It’s a big part of Norfolk Southern’s business, with about 2,756 annual trips bringing in nearly 20 percent of the company’s revenue.
On a cold, clear afternoon just before Thanksgiving, Barton reports to work near the south end of Norfolk International Terminals.
Today he’ll pilot a 10-year-old, D9-40CW locomotive the 11.5 miles from NIT to Norfolk Southern’s Portlock Yard, a rail yard and intermodal terminal in Chesapeake.
It’s not the usual route for this resident of Crewe, but he’s filling in for a sick colleague.
About 50 trains make the short trek back and forth each week. They carry about 3,500 containers to NIT for export and about 1,600 imported containers to Portlock.
Traffic usually picks up this time of year, but business has been slower than usual this season because of the economic downturn, Chapman said.
Barton approaches the hulking black locomotive with a cooler and his second-in-command, train conductor David “Cotton” Witt, nearby.
Witt fires up the diesel-electric engines as Barton climbs onto the locomotive’s nose and into its metal skull.
Barton settles into a padded seat on the right side of the cabin behind a series of knobs, levers, screens and gauges.
After the team completes the pre-trip safety checks, Barton throws the locomotive in reverse. A bell clangs overhead as the locomotive inches backward.
Bang! The train lurches to a stop as it hits a series of about six rail cars waiting on the track behind it. Witt checks that they’re securely coupled.
The gray-bearded conductor wears blue jeans, a black hooded sweat shirt and gloves, which help with throwing switches and other work. He soon joins Barton in the cabin, taking his seat on the left-hand side in front of a red emergency brake.
They’re ready to go.
Just after 1 p.m., an NIT security guard opens the gate separating the terminal from Hampton Boulevard. With the warning bell clanging, the train slides across the busy street, passing cars filled with Navy sailors and others who live and work near the terminal. Following behind are 42 blue, red and orange containers emblazoned with logos such as Maersk, J.B. Hunt and Evergreen.
The crew doesn’t know what’s in the containers – that’s left to Norfolk Southern’s customers. They’re only concerned with getting the cargo delivered on time. It needs to reach the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal by 7 a.m.
The view alternates between busy streets, industrial back lots and trees plumed in red, orange and yellow leaves. With the exception of the engines’ low rumbling, the cabin is quiet. No music or cell phones are permitted to distract the two-man team from their task.
“It’s a decent living,” Witt says as the train passes Sewells Point Golf Course.
But it comes at a price.
Train crews often work for two days then have a day off, Barton says. Being on call can make for an unpredictable lifestyle.
“The hardest part is being on call and not knowing when you’re going to work,” Witt says as he peers through the windshield. “You miss a lot of family things being on the road.”
As the train chugs past houses and backyards filled with toys and trampolines, it approaches two young boys walking near the track.
One, wearing a hooded sweat shirt and backpack, walks toward the crossing.
“What is this idiot doing?” Witt says, eyeing the duo.
He’s prepared to pull the red emergency brake if they try to run in front of the 205-ton locomotive, but they don’t.
“I’m glad they didn’t try anything,” Barton says. “They would’ve made the papers.”
If they had, Witt would have pulled the emergency brake, but it would’ve been too late to stop, he says. The train moves along at a clip of about 10 mph, leading some people to think they can outrun it.
“They run more rails here than anywhere I’ve ever been,” Witt says. “I’d say at least every trip.”
As the clock ticks toward
2:30 p.m., the train nears Portlock Yard. There the track fans out, saddling up next to more rail cars and a lot filled with trucks and containers waiting to go.
Barton puts on the brakes and the train comes to a halt. Witt descends from the cabin and throws a switch to guide the train onto Track 5.
The intermodal train from NIT often picks up extra containers here, but not today.
From Portlock Yard, Barton, Witt and their cargo will travel roughly 200 miles west through Suffolk to Lynchburg. They’ll arrive about 10 p.m., just in time to head home for Thanksgiving.
In Lynchburg, another crew will take over, guiding the train roughly 200 miles north to the Virginia Inland Port.
From there, the boxes will be plucked off the train and loaded onto trucks to be taken to warehouses and distribution centers. Home Depot, Family Dollar Stores and Sysco Corp. are all nearby. In the warehouses, the cargo will be repackaged and sent to store shelves, ready for holiday shoppers.
By Christmas, some of the goods they’ve delivered will end up under someone’s tree. Most children won’t know that their toys came on the back of a train driven by people like Barton and Witt rather than on Santa’s sleigh. But the crew is happy to share the credit.