ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Spokesmen for Norfolk Southern Corp. said Wednesday that it's too early to do more than speculate on the effect an NS merger with Conrail would have on the Roanoke area.
NS operates major railyards and maintenance and repair shops in Roanoke. Along with other functions, NS also houses departments that market NS' services to shippers of coal and other commodities at its downtown Roanoke office building.
In all, the railroad has about 3,200 employees in the Roanoke Valley.
NS spokesman Bob Fort said he couldn't imagine any serious impact on Roanoke. The effect of a merger on shippers, customers and employees should be positive, he said.
When a merger between NS and Conrail was rumored two years ago, industry analysts speculated that it could benefit Roanoke, particularly by bringing more business to NS' well-run maintenance shops here.
One stumbling block, however, is that Conrail's shops are located near Altoona, Pa., where the local congressman is Republican Bud Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. Shuster has already called a Nov. 19 hearing on the proposed CSX-Conrail merger, and the NS proposal will likely be folded into that.
Because Roanoke has many NS employees and was once the headquarters of the Norfolk and Western Railway, a predecessor to NS, the city has more than its share of NS stockholders. Local stockbrokers said NS' announcement Wednesday that it was making a $100-a-share hostile-takeover attempt on Conrail had caused little concern locally.
"It's been relatively calm," said Bill Moore of Scott & Stringfellow.
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