Winston-Salem Southbound Railway

The WSS used a variety of steam locomotives from 1910 until 1957, since the Norfolk and Western Railway continued to operate with steam power, so there was no hurry to dieselize the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway. On April 22, 1957, the railroad caved-in, and four new EMD GP9 diesels arrived, priced at about $190,000 each. With the arrival of diesels, the water tanks and coaling stations of the steam era would soon fall. The four GP9s were purchased from the N&W, and the swiftly-dieselizing ACL; the two companies then in ownership of the WSS. They were re-painted into two different paint schemes and served from the 1950s to the late 1960s, when the WSS, realizing it wasn't cost-effective to maintain servicing facilities, sent the GP9s back to their respective owners and started to lease equipment from the ACL and N&W. To this day, the WSS continues to lease road power from the successors of the ACL (CSX) and N&W (NS). The GP9 units were numbered 1501 (N&W), 1502 (N&W), 1503 (ACL), 1504 (ACL). The latter were the only two GP9 on ACL roster ; one of them was rebuilt to GP16 by the Seaboard Coast Line and still runs today, owned by R.J. Corman. ==See also==