Philadelphia and Northern

The Philadelphia and Northern Railroad, or P&N and Philly System, is a Class I railroad serving the eastern portion of the United States and some parts of Canada. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

Origin (1971)
In 1971, the Port Authority railroad was declining at a fast rate and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (after filing Chapter 11 one year earlier), leading to the creation of the Philadelphia and Northern Railroad, which in turn took over the remainder of Port Authority Railroad. At it's beginning, the newly formed company had almost all the former Port Authority railroad equipment including the ALCO C424s, the EMD SD40s, and more.

Early years (1972-1980s)
By 1972, traffic was at a slow pace due to track conditions limiting the train speeds to about 10-25 mph. Track repairs were commenced between 1972 and 1976, bringing traffic to a steady pace. Between 1976 and into the 1980s, the railroad placed an order of 40 high hood SD40-2s (2300-2339), 100 low hood SD40-2s (#2200-2299), and 100 GP38-2s (100-199), mainly to replace some of the aging ex-POAR fleet. The GP9s were also rebuilt to GP9us between 1980 and 1983.

Modern years (2000s-present)
TBA

Operations
The P&N currently operates the Bristol, Clinchfield, and Lynchburg’s Philadelphia and Detroit divisions as subsidiaries and has a leasing division known as Greater Philadelphia Leasing (PHLX). The railroad mainly owns former Port Authority tracks but serves other lines under trackage rights.

Train numbers

 * A1755 Local (Philadelphia-Wilmington)
 * H654 (Philadelphia-Richmond, connection with CSX)
 * E172 (New York-Toronto, connection with CP/CN)

Fleet
The railroad has a variety of locomotives including GEs, EMDs, a few ALCOs, and even some experimental rebuilds, such as the P42DCe (A GE P42DC fitted with an EMD isolated cab). They also have a Heritage fleet of some locomotives painted in various fallen flag schemes and locomotives painted in promotional or special paint schemes.

ES44ACs

 * P&N #1933 (former #3133; Pittsburgh Steelers)
 * P&N #2018 (former #3152; Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl 52)
 * P&N #3172 (ATSF Heritage)
 * P&N #3173 (Conrail Heritage)
 * P&N #3174 (SP Bloody Nose Heritage)
 * P&N #3175 (N&W Blue Heritage)
 * P&N #3176 (Erie Lackawanna Heritage)
 * P&N #3177 (BCOL Heritage*)
 * P&N #3178 (Burlington Northern Heritage)
 * P&N #3179 (N&W Red Heritage)
 * P&N #3180 (N&W Black Heritage)
 * P&N #3181 (CNW Heritage)
 * P&N #3193 (Diet Pepsi)

*Although P&N doesn’t have direct connections with BCOL, they do operate some trains to or in Canada as CP/CN transfers for some trains bound for ex-BCOL territories.

SD70ACEs

 * P&N #1776 (former #6152; Spirit of America)
 * P&N #2016 (former #6105; Villanova Wildcats NCAA Tournament)
 * P&N #6119 (SP Daylight Heritage)
 * P&N #6120 (Penn Central Heritage)
 * P&N #6121 (Port Authority Heritage)
 * P&N #6122 (Baltimore & Ohio heritage)

SD70Ms

 * P&N #4449 (Honoring our Veterans)

SD40-2s

 * P&N #2008 (former #2255; Phillies World Series)

C40-9s

 * P&N #6814 (Spirit of Independence)

C44-9Ws

 * P&N #PT-73 (Navy Veterans Unit)

Rebuilds

 * P&N #6901 (Project Red Fight Against Aids)


 * P&N #6904 (New Jersey and Delaware Heritage)

October 2016 trespasser strike
On October 2016, a train stuck a trespasser on the tracks. The investigation revealed that a group of boys were imitating an episode of Terrance and Phillip. This lead to the creation of a nonprofit organization called “Friends against Terrance and Phillip, which the show would be ether taken off air or moved to a later time such as between 10pm and 12am.

2016 mass vandalism
In late 2016, several of the P&N's locomotives were spotted with illegal CP, CSX, and VIA patches. The investigation of the incidents was later revealed that an amid CP, CSX, and VIA fan was the mastermind behind the vandalism incidents and has since been arrested and jailed (though he escaped many times to vandalize more equipment; but was always caught and escorted off property). This lead to the company increasing security around the yards and other P&N property.

2017 “Railbeast” incident
In December 2017, ES44AC #3124 was spotted with the infamous “Railbeast” paint job. An investigation revealed that a team of graffiti artists were held responsible for the act of vandalism. The locomotive has since been repainted after several repairs were done to bring it up to FRA standards and the “Railbeast” incident lead to the company upgrading security, including in deserted areas.

2018 Ridley Park Derailment
On March 23, 2018, P&N H654 travelling from Philadelphia to Richmond, crashed into a bus that was allegedly stolen and deliberately placed on the tracks and later derailed on sabotaged tracks with reported injuries to the crew.

Other Incidents
8 days later on March 31, C44-9W #7109 (built to CN standards) was spotted with a faux Conrail logo and paint job on the cab. An investigation revealed that an amid Conrail fan illegally repainted the locomotive in the faux Conrail paint job. The unit has since been repainted and on November of that year, that same locomotive was totaled after being involved in a derailment caused by a landslide.