The Norfolk Southern H-line, Roanoke District in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley - April 2024

April 12-15, 2024.
Footage from two gorgeous spring days along Norfolk Southern's H-line, Roanoke District through the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia.

The H-line runs from Hagerstown, MD to Roanoke, VA through the scenic Shenandoah Valley, roughly following the U.S 340/Interstate 81 corridor. The line handles four daily manifests and several locals, along with occasional grain traffic for Harrisonburg. This video features several scenic locations along the H-line, including Arcadia, Natural Bridge Station, Buena Vista, Vesuvius, and Elkton.

The H-line became famous from O. Winston Link's N&W steam photography of the late-1950s, and later became a well-known line for scenery, classic signals, and photogenic locations. A few classic N&W signals still stand at certain locations, but they are on borrowed time with replacements in the near future.

Train symbols and locations in this video:

4/12:
NS 40T: northbound grain loads
00:47 - Natural Bridge Station

NS 12Z: northbound manifest
03:30 - CP Arcadia

NS 14Z: northbound manifest
06:37 - Buena Vista

4/15:
NS 11Z: southbound manifest
10:07 - Elkton
19:45 - CP Pkin

NS 12Z: northbound manifest
12:04 - Vesuvius

NS 14Z: northbound manifest
15:30 - Vesuvius

NS V94: northbound local
21:33 - Elkton