Norfolk Southern D36 w/Rivian EV Loads! 9-3-22



The downtown library was closed today, so I decided to try to catch Norfolk Southern Train D36 out of Good Yard with Rivian EV loads...and I did!

Shipments have been increasingly common this summer. The journey has taken several years. Rivian Automotive purchased the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (MMMA) plant in early 2017. After extensive upgrades, brick-and-mortar expansion and new tooling, the plant began limited production of vehicles a year ago this month. 

Norfolk Southern began hauling empty autoracks to Good Yard in spring 2021 in hopes that production would begin then. Delays caused by lack of critical components delayed large-scale production until recent months. The Normal plant is said to be able to produce 150,000 EVs per year, but will be lucky to do 25,000 in 2022. 

With many of the supply chain issues eased, Rivian has decided to added a second assembly shift. Rivian builds larger vehicles than MMMA, so more autoracks will be needed even at less than full production. If they load 20 to 30 per day, D32 and D36 will be heavy with empties and loads, respectively. As production ramps up, and NS sees surging outbound traffic, I'd expect assignment of a second Good Yard-based roadswitcher, probably D47. Whether D49 gets bumped to afternoon or night hours remains to be seen.

Back to the video: Train D36 is shown in and between Bloomington and Gibson City, Illinois early afternoon Saturday, September 3, 2022. NS 5174 and NS 6096 have 47 cars. All but the tenth of eleven bi-level autoracks blocked on the head end were loaded with Rivian Automotive EVs.

The other 36 cars came from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard on Friday's D49. The Keokuk Junction Railway's Thursday delivery to TZPR contributed 31 cars of corn syrup, sorbitol, corn germ and gluten meal. The last five were steel empties off the Iowa Interstate. 

Scenes are in downtown Bloomington, Holder, Arrowsmith and several scenes west of and in Gibson City. 

- David P. Jordan 

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