New Orleans Public Belt

Company History: NOPB opened as a common carrier terminal railroad in 1911. Today they operate 25 miles of mainline and about 100 miles of yard, siding and spur track. Most of the line is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River but the company also owns the Huey P. Long Bridge – the longest and highest steel railroad bridge in America. The bridge, which carries two tracks and four lanes of highway over the Mississippi, is 4.35 miles long. In the diesel era, NOPB went through a Baldwin switcher phase, an EMD phase and is now moving into a Genset phase. The roster as of 2011 included an SW1000, three SW1500’s, three MP1500D’s, three MP2000D’s and a trio of GP40’s.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.