Norfolk and Western Railway

The Norfolk and Western Railway was a Class I railroad headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, founded in 1870 as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad and renamed Norfolk and Western in 1881. Known by the nicknames King Coal and the British Railway of America, it was noted for manufacturing its own steam locomotives at the Roanoke Shops. In 1980 the company merged its business operations with those of the Southern Railway to create the Norfolk Southern Corporation, and by 1982 the Southern Railway had been renamed Norfolk Southern Railway and taken over N&W's operations, ending its independent existence.