Commonwealth Railway
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| Overview | |
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| Headquarters | Wilroy, Suffolk, VA |
| Reporting mark | CWRY |
| Locale | Suffolk, VA to Portsmouth, VA |
| Dates of operation | August 1989–present |
The Commonwealth Railway, Inc. (reporting mark CWRY) is a Class III short-line railroad operating 16.5 miles (26.5 km) of track of a former Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railway line from Suffolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth, Virginia. The main office is in the Wilroy area of Suffolk.
The main industry on the line is the BASF Chemical plant in the West Norfolk area of Portsmouth. The plant is usually switched by locomotive #444, a GP16 class locomotive rebuilt by Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in the early 1980s. The main locomotive is #517, a CF7 rebuild of an EMD F7 performed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the 1970s.
Commonwealth Railway is owned by Rail Link Inc. and is a part of Norfolk Southern's "Thoroughbred Shortline Program." They interchange with Norfolk Southern in Suffolk. Maersk's APM Terminals opened in 2007, making the Commonwealth Railway the only rail line to access the port. They are also in the process of building another port on Craney Island. With the opening of the port two EMD SW1500 type switch engines were added to the roster. To handle the rail traffic the Commonwealth Railway line through the city of Portsmouth is in the process of being realigned down the medians of I-664 and US 164. A small marshalling yard has been built in the Baileytown area of Suffolk.
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Rail Link Inc. #444, a GP16 rebuild, is used for switching along the Commonwealth Railway in Suffolk, Virginia. -
Locomotive #517 runs past the site of the new yard at Suffolk, Virginia after switching the BASF plant -
Commonwealth Railway #1552 an SW1500 parked at Wilroy in Suffolk, Virginia. -
Maersk's APM Terminals in Portsmouth, Virginia, at night.
