Norfolk Southern's Knoxville District: Bulls Gap to Greenville, TN - 11/18/2022

November 18, 2022.
Footage from a cold autumn day on Norfolk Southern's Knoxville District (Bristol Line) between Bulls Gap and Greenville, TN.
While heading north towards the CSX Clinchfield mainline for the 80th CSX Santa Train, I traversed through eastern Tennessee along the I-81 corridor. I spent time around Bulls Gap and Greenville photographing various NS freights running between Roanoke and Knoxville.
Bulls Gap is home to a small NS yard and the Bulls Gap Railroad Museum. The yard is used for local traffic to/from Kingsport, and a manifest pair to/from Memphis (NS 101/102). A local model railroad club is also set up in the trackside museum. Several old structures still stand in Bulls Gap, including two former hotels from the 1880s, a Southern Railway steam era water tank, and an 1850s brick house, which is now apartments. As seen in this video, the present day porch of the apartment building is extremely close to the NS main - lawn chairs and supports are just feet away, adding to the scene's uniqueness.
Train symbols in this video:
NS 278 - eastbound intermodal/autoracks
(Louisville, KY to Norfolk, VA)
NS T23 - Greenville area local
(Greenville to CP Jones)
NS 127 - westbound manifest
(Roanoke, VA to Chattanooga, TN)
NS 13Z - westbound manifest
(Shenandoah, VA to Knoxville, TN)
NS 101 - westbound manifest
(Bulls Gap, TN to Memphis, TN)
NS 289 - westbound intermodal/manifest
(Allentown, PA to Rossville/Memphis, TN)

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

Great video and night shots.

[@railfan540]

NS 13Z runs from Allentown Pa to Knoxville Tenessee Cresent Limited Productions.

[@crescentlimitedproductions9192]

Yes that's 13Z's current route, but in late 2022 (when this video was created), 13Z ran between Shenandoah and Knoxville. It was extended past Shenandoah to Allentown earlier this year.