I see the new NS President is from Hattiesburg, MS and has a fondness for trains. Considering he probably makes an obscene amount of money, I wonder if this might be leveraged into some restoration funds for the two surviving Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern steam locomotives? Does the old B&HS track still exist? Didn't it merge into IC many years ago?

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news ... 07876.html

When I was down in Hattiesburg last year I only remember seeing one steam locomotive by the passenger depot. The locomotive had a couple of cars behind it. All the equipment was in delapitated shape. For diesel fans there was a number of older NS diesels switching at the yard in Hattiesburg. The old IC yard outside of town now owned by somebody else was still using a Grand Trunk diesel. I beleive Amtrak was still using the depot.

I had the pleasure of spending the day with the new NS President, Wick Moorman, about 12 years ago. He is a fan of the industry and was the head engineering for the old Southern Atlantic Region before he left NS to go to Harvard Business School. Since returning to NS he has held a number of increasing important positions and appears to be an excellent choice to eventually become CEO. The day I spent with him was looking at the monumental engineering that went into the Lackawanna Cutoff and then some brutally honest comments about track condition on Conrail.

I think he will be a major plus for NS. It will be great to have a real railroader at the helm. Don't look for a return of the NS steam program, but a well run railroad is not so bad either.