, some of them in several variants.

Friday, January 11, 2013 If you look hard enough you might be surprised to find that Atlanta is a haven for railroad and train enthusiasts. Not only is there a large organization dedicated to the building and maintaining of model train layouts in the metro area and a museum that allows visitors to climb aboard over 90 cars, engines and cabooses but there are also actual working railroad yards that move freight and passengers in and around the city as well as teach locomotive engineers how to operate the powerful engines. As part of a Three of a Kind photo feature for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution I photographed the Norfolk Southern Training Center in McDonough. Locomotive engineers from all over the country come to the training center to spend four weeks in an intensive training program to learn how to operate the engines.

Between 300 and 700 engineers come to the facility each year.

Locomotive engineer trainee Dale Maier performs a safety inspection before climbing aboard an engine at the Norfolk Southern Training Center in McDonough on Friday. Friday, January 11, 2013 If you look hard enough you might be surprised to find that Atlanta is a haven for railroad and train enthusiasts. Locomotive Engineer salaries - 18 salaries reported. Explore Norfolk Southern Salaries See Norfolk Southern Hourly Pay. Norfolk Southern Salaries by Location.