THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9701310730
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 85 lines
Pop quiz. What's more important to Hampton Roads?
a) A pro hockey team named after a huge, scaly, horned mammal from Africa and Asia;
b) A huge shopping mall in Norfolk named after a controversial dead Army general;
c) The railroad whose mile-long trains rumble across the city's roads, blocking traffic for an infuriating five minutes when you're late for an appointment.
The Rhinos on ice might be nice, and my wife can't wait to shop at McArthur Center's Nordstrom. But Norfolk Southern has contributed more to the region's economy than a hockey team or a luxury shopping mall ever will.
It's difficult, then, to understand why public debate seems riveted on whether we should build an ice palace or shopping complex while one of the region's true economic jewels might soon slip from our fingers.
Norfolk Southern has offered to move its headquarters to Philadelphia as part of its rough wooing of Conrail, the Northeastern railroad that has agreed to merge with CSX.
Where would Hampton Roads be without Norfolk Southern?
No single Fortune 500 firm would be headquartered here.
Hampton Roads probably would not be the second-biggest cargo port on the East Coast or the largest coal port in the nation.
The Chrysler Museum, the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Stage Company and other arts and cultural organizations likely would be shadows of what they are now.
And we'd be missing 1,400 jobs, among them some of the highest-paid in the region.
Norfolk Southern and its predecessors have been bringing coal from Appalachia to be loaded on sailing ships in Norfolk since the 1880s. It is now the nation's fourth largest railroad with a 14,500-mile network covering the Southeast and Midwest. It hauls everything from coal and chemicals to autos and shipping containers.
Now as our cities bicker over financing an arena to help win a hockey team and Norfolk muddles through building a luxury mall, Norfolk Southern is looking north. The company wants access to big Northeastern markets like New York and Philadelphia. It's tried to buy Conrail for more than decade.
When CSX and Conrail agreed to merge, it looked as if Norfolk Southern would be cut out of the Northeast, crippling it and perhaps even forcing it to merge with one of the two big Western railroads.
The gentlemen in downtown Norfolk who run what is regarded as the nation's best-run railroad didn't care much for that prospect.
They reached into Norfolk Southern's deep pockets and offered Conrail shareholders more money for their stock than CSX ever could. Conrail shareholders - now mostly Wall Street types, eyes bulging with dollar signs - have blocked the CSX merger for now.
But money isn't everything. To woo Conrail's management and board of directors, the execs at Norfolk Southern even offered to move to Philadelphia. So far, Conrail has spurned Norfolk Southern, but the three railroads are meeting to see if they can hammer out some compromise, which many see as the likely resolution.
``There's been a lot of water over the dam since then, but I go into the negotiations with an open mind,'' said Norfolk Southern Chairman David R. Goode.
So for Norfolk and Hampton Roads, things could go either way.
Whatever happens, the railroad isn't going away. Dozens of freight trains will still rumble to and from the Lambert's Point coal terminal and the marine terminals in Norfolk and Portsmouth.
However, if Norfolk Southern gains access to other ports, including New York, it may not feel the need to promote Hampton Roads as much as it has for the past 15 years.
Since Norfolk Southern moved its HQ here in 1982, the port of Hampton Roads has nearly quadrupled its cargo volume. Port officials credit the railroad for much of that growth and the port provides tens of thousands of jobs and millions in taxes to the region.
The headquarters is another matter. Losing it and its 300 employees to Philadelphia would empty office space, lunch counters, the boards of arts and cultural groups, and drain public pride.
Railroad executives have not shied from helping the community. Goode pushes regionalism. Former Chairman Arnold McKinnon helped the Chrysler and serves on the Virginia Port Authority Board.
Roanoke lost its railroad headquarters to Norfolk when Norfolk & Western merged with Southern Railway to form Norfolk Southern. Roanoke was lucky. Dominion Bancshares was elated to fill the railroad's empty shoes.
There's no comparable big business in South Hampton Roads that could replace Norfolk Southern, its leadership or its largesse. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo