On 9/11/01 I was working at a building adjacent to the Norfolk Southern mainline at 7th Street in Harrisburg, PA. In fact, the building was located where a roundhouse once stood. in response to the attacks upon New York City, did the NS suspend freight operations? The busy mainline was active at all that morning. As Governor Ridge evacuated Harrisburg late in the morning, the auto traffic was so backed up that I waited with others at a parking lot off 7th Street an hour before attempting to enter the streets. No freight operations whatsoever. Today, my back of my mind curiosity was again asking the question; did the NS suspend operations in response to the attack in eastern PA? If so, why and how?
Everything in and out of New York City area–highway, air, rail, and water–came to a virtual standstill. Why? Without being able to get into the city area…North Jersey, upstate NY from the city and west, and CT and east…nothing could move so was tied up whereever it was until things opened up. How? Just tied everything down in place until it all opened up again and traffic could move out of NYC area and in, too.