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New pages patrol September 2024 Backlog drive

New pages patrol \| September 2024 Backlog Drive
On 1 September 2024, a one-month backlog drive for new pages patrol will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number of articles and redirects patrolled. Barnstars will also be granted for re-reviewing articles previously reviewed by other patrollers during the drive. Each article review will earn 1 point, and each redirect review will earn 0.2 points. Interested in taking part? Sign up here.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:11, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

WikiCup 2024 August newsletter

The fourth round of the 2024 WikiCup ended on 29 August. Each of the 8 contestants who advanced to Round 4 scored at least 472 points, and the following contestants scored more than 700 points:

Generalissima (submissions) with 1,150 points, mostly from 3 featured articles, 2 featured lists, 7 good articles, and 13 did you know nominations;
Arconning (submissions) with 791 points, mostly from 2 featured lists, 8 good articles, 4 did you know nominations, and plenty of reviews;
AirshipJungleman29 (submissions) with 718 points, mostly from a high-multiplier featured article on Genghis Khan and 2 good articles; and
BennyOnTheLoose (submissions) with 714 points, mostly from 1 featured article on Susanna Hoffs, 2 featured lists, and 3 good articles.

Congratulations to our eight finalists and all who participated. Contestants put in extraordinary amounts of effort during this round, and their scores can be seen here. So far this year, competitors have gotten 36 featured articles, 55 featured lists, 15 good articles, 93 in the news credits, and at least 333 did you know credits. They have conducted 357 featured content reviews, as well as 553 good article reviews and peer reviews, and have added 30 articles to featured topics and good topics.

Any content promoted after 29 August but before the start of Round 5 can be claimed during Round 5, which starts on 1 September at 00:00 (UTC). Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. If two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether for a good article, featured content, or anything else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews Needed. Remember to claim your points within 14 days of earning them, and importantly, before the deadline on 31 October.

If you would like to learn more about rules and scoring for the 2024 WikiCup, please see this page. Further questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges (Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs), Epicgenius (talk · contribs), and Frostly (talk · contribs)) are reachable on their talk pages. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove your name from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:13, 30 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Valley Falls train collision

On 31 August 2024, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Valley Falls train collision, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the 1853 Valley Falls train collision led to the creation of a time zone? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Valley Falls train collision. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Valley Falls train collision), and the hook may be added to the statistics page after its run on the Main Page has completed. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

—Kusma (talk) 00:03, 31 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Voting for coordinators is now open!

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election have opened. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting will commence on 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:41, 1 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

hello

excuse me but why is this removed i put it back for a reason and this is not unsourced and it's not railfan puffery

Collapsed in interest of keeping my talk page readable Trainsandotherthings (talk) 12:26, 7 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Paint and colors

NS's locomotives are often called "catfish" by railfans, as the stripes are said to look like catfish whiskers.

The current "Horsehead" paint scheme for NS locomotives is black and white, with yellow grab irons and step-edge highlights. Locomotives feature a rearing horse decal enclosed in the "catfish" stripes on both the nose and rear, which is consistent with marketing campaigns where NS has billed itself as "The Thoroughbred of Transportation".

The first few AC44C6Ms features a special version of the Horsehead scheme, which is painted for the D.C. To A.C. Project. The others retain the regular paint job. The GE AC44C6Ms are rebuilt from GE Dash 9-40Cs.

In 1994, EMD GP59 No. 4610 was painted in predecessor Southern colors of green and white with gold trim and was a favorite of railfans.[33] The locomotive was repainted in the Norfolk Southern "Operation Lifesaver" paint in February 2012 because of ES44AC #8099 also being in Southern paint.

Norfolk Southern painted 20 new-order ES44ACs and SD70ACes in commemorative heritage paint schemes as part of NS's 30th anniversary celebration in 2012 (more info below in the "Heritage Schemes" section).

Norfolk Southern also has many locomotives painted in various versions of the Operation Lifesaver scheme.

In February 2015, Norfolk Southern unveiled restored NS 3170 in the Southern Railway "Tuxedo" paint scheme. The 3170 is a SD40, the first ordered by the Southern Railway and was retired by Norfolk Southern in 2007. In September 2015, SD45-2 1700 was unveiled wearing its original Erie Lackawanna paint. Another SD40, NS 1580, was set aside for repaint into its original Norfolk and Western paint scheme; however, as of January 2017, it has yet to be repainted. Since 2024 it has been donated to the Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS

In January 2015, the first of the state-funded "ECO Class" units – painted in a two-tone green, white, and black paint scheme – was completed. "ECO" locomotives thus far (January 2017) include GP33ECO and SD33ECO; additionally, these units come with 'slug' types: RP-M4C (GP33ECO) and RPU6D (SD33ECO).

In November 2011, Norfolk Southern unveiled SD60E 6920 – painted in a blue, red, white and black "Honoring our Veterans" paint scheme. In March 2013, Norfolk Southern released NS SD60E 6963, which was painted in a special paint scheme for "GORAIL." In May 2015, Norfolk Southern unveiled another SD60E, number 911 – painted in a red, white, and gold, "Honoring First Responders" paint scheme.

Locomotives

A large majority of Norfolk Southern's locomotives come from the company's many predecessors, which include but are not limited to Norfolk and Western, Southern Railway, and Conrail. Of the engines from Norfolk and Western (NW) and Southern, many were equipped with high short hoods. Although these locomotives are aging, some 'high hoods' still remain on the roster as of April 2020. Norfolk Southern has drastically reduced the number of them by scrapping, rebuilding, or selling them.

Historically, NS has only purchased DC traction diesel locomotives, and was one of the last North American AC-traction hold-outs aside from Canadian National Railway. In September 2008, however, NS placed its first order for new AC traction locomotives: 23 GE ES44ACs, numbered 8000-8023. In the years since, NS has purchased several more ES44ACs as well as over 150 EMD SD70ACes.

Beginning in 2012, Norfolk Southern began to take delivery of several types of older EMD locomotives from various railroads and leasing companies, including 9 ex-BNSF "tri-clops" SD60Ms, 6 ex-ATSF (BNSF) SD75Ms, the remaining 12 ex-Conrail SD80MACs owned by CSX, a majority of Union Pacific's SD9043MACs, and more than 130 SD40-2's from First Union Rail, CIT Group, and Helm Leasing.

Norfolk Southern is the only railroad ever to own SD80MACs and SD90MACs simultaneously. Norfolk Southern owned all of the SD80MACs and 110 of the SD90MACs from Union Pacific. Norfolk Southern also acquired 10 SD90MACs from CIT Group in exchange for 15 MP15DCs. The SD90MACs have been rebuilt into SD70ACUs. By late 2021, the SD80MACs were been sold (most scrapped), and most of the EMD SD70ACus were sold.

Norfolk Southern has a very large program for re-cabbing locomotives. NS has its own designed "Admiral Cab," which they use on their 'standard cab' rebuilds. NS has rebuilt GP38-2s, SD40-2s, ECO units, and many more with the Admiral Cab. In 2015, Norfolk Southern began a program to convert their reliable, but aging GE Dash 8-40Cs into Dash 8.5-40CW units (NS calls them D8.5-40CW). The few units that were upgraded included new cabs, rebuilt and modified engine, electrical upgrades and more. Due to repeated failures, the program was deemed unsuccessful in 2016, and ET44AC units were ordered to replace the un-rebuildable 8-40Cs. The Dash 8.5s have since been sold. In 2016, NS bought 46 GE ET44AC Locomotives, also known as Tier 4 Locomotives, numbered 3600-3646. These are the first Tier 4 road engines purchased, and not immediately stored, by NS. Norfolk Southern purchased 34 more units, delivered in 2017. The ET44ACs were purchased as the replacement for the Dash 8-40C units, all of which were sold shortly after the ET44ACs entered service. They were the first order of new locomotives from NS since late 2014, when EPA Tier 4 requirements were put in place.

In 2016, Norfolk Southern began a rebuild program on the Dash 9-40C units. The rebuild involved overhaul of the engine, emissions upgrades, a new cab (featuring GE Trip Optimizer, PTC, and NS Cab Signals / Locomotive Speed Limiter), new electronics, DPU and ECP capabilities, increased weight, and an electric parking brake. Norfolk Southern has rebuilt all the C40-9 "Top Hats" and some of the Dash 9-44CWs. The new locomotives are being classified as GE AC44C6M.

Heritage fleet

In the first half of 2012, Norfolk Southern painted 10 EMD SD70ACes and 10 GE ES44ACs as special heritage units, each bearing the paint schemes and markings of the various predecessor railroads of Norfolk Southern and Conrail. On July 1–3, 2012, all 20 units gathered together at the North Carolina Transportation Museum at Spencer, North Carolina, as the highlight of NS's 30th-anniversary celebration. The locomotives have since traveled throughout the United States on various Class I railroads as run-through pool power, attracting much attention from railfans

The Heritage Units include:

Central of Georgia (GE ES44AC) #8101
Central Railroad of New Jersey (EMD SD70ACe) #1071
Conrail ("Big Blue") (GE ES44AC) #8098 (Storage)
Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western (EMD SD70ACe) #1074
Erie (EMD SD70ACe) #1068
Lehigh Valley Railroad (Red) (GE ES44AC) #8104
Illinois Terminal Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1072
Interstate Railroad (GE ES44AC) #8105
Monongahela Railway (GE ES44AC) #8025
New York Central Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1066
Nickel Plate Road (GE ES44AC) #8100
Norfolk & Western (Blue "Hamburger" Logo) (GE ES44AC) #8103
Norfolk Southern (Original) (GE ES44AC) #8114
Penn Central (EMD SD70ACe) #1073
Pennsylvania Railroad (Tuscan Red) (GE ES44AC) #8102
Reading Company (Bee Line) (EMD SD70ACe) #1067
Savannah & Atlanta (Tuxedo Black scheme) (EMD SD70ACe) #1065
Southern (Crescent Green scheme) (GE ES44AC) #8099
Virginian (EMD SD70ACe) #1069
Wabash Railroad (EMD SD70ACe) #1070
Erie Lackawanna (EMD SD45-2) #1700

2601:18C:500:2360:8C51:4D5D:E18D:68D2 (talk) 02:04, 7 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You included exactly zero references. Are you really surprised I removed it? We have policies like verifiability which require references for content. Again, you included zero references. You did not include here the most egregious edit [1], where you wrote blatant puffery like "this locomotive gem" "memorable journeys" and "esteemed arrival". Wikipedia is not your personal railfan blog. Writing like this is unacceptable per WP:NPOV. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 12:26, 7 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm very sorry i didn't realize this i just wanted to put back the info of norfolk southern's locomotive's, it's paint scheme, it's locomotive rebild it's heritage units, and the locomotives that they donated. 2601:18C:500:2360:58B4:DC8A:A281:64C2 (talk) 22:10, 10 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Notability

People cried that all the train stations would be purged last time, and that has not happened. I really wish that you'd phrased this, and the rest of your comment, differently. Mackensen (talk) 23:03, 10 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Has there been a purge of train stations? I certainly haven't seen one, and people were absolutely saying that the last RfC was just an excuse to mass delete train stations. I have never been in favor of that. Forgive me if I have little sympathy for a group that's repeatedly targeted me with personal attacks, including a sitting admin who should have known better. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 00:08, 11 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh no, you were right about that. I'm sure you can understand that people talking about fifty stations in the UK being notable makes one nervous, and similar sentiments were expressed the last time around. I know that's not your view. I've spoken to the admin in question before, and got nowhere. In fairness, I've asked many people to be pleasant over the years without much success. Mackensen (talk) 01:20, 11 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I was more than a little surprised to see someone say "maybe 1% of train stations are notable" because that's simply not true at all. Despite my feelings about notability I felt the need to actually argue the other side a bit and emphasize most train stations are clearly notable on their own merits. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 23:16, 11 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Voting for WikiProject Military history coordinators is now open!

Voting for WikiProject Military history coordinators is now open! A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. Register your vote here by 23:59 UTC on 29 September! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:35, 18 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]