View source for B-Line (Norfolk Southern)

{{About|a US rail line in Virginia|the rail route in Indiana, United States|Bee Line Railroad}}
[[File:NS B Line - Markham, VA (5899410462).jpg|thumb|right|300px|A Norfolk Southern merchandise freight passes through [[Markham, Fauquier County, Virginia|Markham]] on the B-Line in 2011.]]
The '''B-Line''' is a [[railroad]] line owned and operated by the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Virginia]]. The line runs from [[Manassas, Virginia|Manassas]] west to [[Front Royal, Virginia|Front Royal]] and [[Strasburg, Virginia|Strasburg]]<ref>[http://www.pacerfarm.org/cgi-bin/sta01.cgi?div=BLI the NS B-Line]</ref> along a former [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]] line, although no trains serve the section of the line from Front Royal to Strasburg, as the last customer closed its doors in 2020, after which the line was officially designated "out of service." The Strasburg section will now possibly be turned into a [[Rail trail|rail-trail]]. Its east end is at the [[Washington District]], and it crosses the [[Hagerstown District]] at [[Front Royal, VA|Front Royal]]. Since the 1999 breakup of [[Conrail]], when Norfolk Southern acquired the [[Lurgan Branch]] from the north end of the Hagerstown District into [[Pennsylvania]], the B-Line east of Front Royal has been a major connection, allowing traffic on the Washington District to bypass [[Washington, D.C.]] The B-Line supports mainly [[intermodal freight transport|intermodal]] and manifest trains, although beginning in late 2018, Norfolk Southern began running rerouted [[coal]] [[unit trains]] on it more frequently than before.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Trains That Run Through The B-LINE Normally
|-
! Train Symbol !! Direction
|-
| 12R || Westbound
|-
| 13R || Eastbound
|-
| 27A || Eastbound
|-
| 28R || Westbound
|-
| 24X || Westbound
|-
| 25A || Eastbound
|-
| 288 || Westbound
|-
| 289 || Eastbound
|-
| 275 || Eastbound
|-
| 274 || Westbound
|}
==History==
The [[Manassas Gap Railroad]] opened in 1854 from Manassas to Strasburg.<ref>{{cite web |title=Map of the Manassas Gap Railroad and its extensions; September, 1855. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/98688704/ |website=Library of Congress|access-date=7 December 2020}}</ref> It became part of the [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]] and Norfolk Southern through leases and mergers.
==References==
{{commons category|B-Line (Norfolk Southern)}}
<references/>
[[Category:Norfolk Southern Railway lines]]
[[Category:Rail infrastructure in Virginia]]
[[Category:Southern Railway (U.S.)]]