Pettengill, George E.
Biography
The collection focuses on the Southern Railway and its’ successor corporation, Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern, one the nation’s largest railroads, was created from predecessor railroads which date back to the early portion of the 19th century. Prior to current times, the three main branches of the current corporate family tree were for many years themselves systems: Norfolk and Western (formed in 1881), Southern Railway System (formed in 1894), and Conrail (formed in 1976). Each of these grew from many smaller local and regional lines as the industry grew. In 1982, Norfolk and Western and the Southern Railway system merged and formed the new company, Norfolk Southern with headquarters in Norfolk, Va. In 1998, Norfolk Southern acquired fifty-eight percent of the Conrail system, which had been created by the federal government from several troubled lines in the 1970s. CSX Corporation received the remainder of the Conrail lines.
