Norfolk Southern D49 and D32 8-24-23

I took a floating holiday Thursday in hopes of chasing Norfolk Southern local D49 to East Peoria with one of the BUGX F-7As. Alas, time spent switching Rivian Automotive, classifying inbound local D32 and building outbound D36 took all the crew's time.

But I did capture, for the first time, switching operations at Rivian!

I shot eight scenes, but only included four to avoid duplication. In the final scene, D49 has pulled 15 cars, all loaded except the first (at least that is how it appeared). These were shoved into a cut of 15 loads pulled earlier. 

Rivian Automotive Inc.'s production has surged this year. The large number of autoracks at Good Yard and at the adjacent ramp today shows preference for rail transportation to more distant points, primarily western states. The company produced 10,020 vehicles in 4th Quarter 2022, 9,395 in 1st Quarter 2023 and 13,992 in the 2nd Quarter.

Since the company fabricates much of its own components onsite, it may be logical to hope that someday, raw materials such as steel may arrive by railcar. Rivian "skateboard" chasses use a combination of aluminum, carbon fiber and ultra high-strength steel.


CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway's Good Yard-based Roadswitcher, D49, switches Rivian Automotive Inc's Normal, Illinois EV assembly plant late-morning Thursday, August 24, 2023. NS 7014 pulls loads and re-spots empties before pulling 15 cars into the adjacent yard. 

Eight cars on this morning's D32 were for TZPR, one for Midwest Fiber and another for DuPont's Gibson City soybean processing plant ("turned" at Good Yard, and then placed on outbound D36). 


CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway local D32 is minutes away from arriving at Good Yard in Normal, Illinois, completing a trip from Decatur. NS 6173 and NS 3266 had 41 cars. Thirty-one of these are empty autoracks assigned to Rivian Automotive Inc. By mid-afternoon, D49 has shoved outbound D36 onto the mainline adjacent Good Yard and is pulling up to a spot across from the yard office. 

David P. Jordan

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