This is Norfolk Southern's busy entry into Chicago from the East. Traffic is so busy that NS purchased the old Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Route line and now two lines carry this traffic, the old Panhandle and the former Nickel Plate main.

We begin our look at this double-route line into Chicago at the Belt Railway of Chicago's Hayford Junction. We wind up at Fort Wayne's East Wayne Yard which can see 100 trains a day. Fort Wayne is an important hub for Norfolk Southern where the former PRR line meets ex-Wabash, and ex-Nickel Plate lines.