Thanksgiving is a time for connection, celebration, and gratitude—a moment to gather with loved ones and enjoy the foods that make this holiday special. But have you ever wondered how those holiday favorites make their way to your table?

Behind every dish is a story of precision, reliability, and teamwork. Team NS plays a vital role in delivering the essentials that make Thanksgiving traditions possible, connecting America’s farms to your home by rail.

Thanks to the dedication of our 20,000 railroaders, we’re proud to keep these goods and more safely moving for our customers and bring families together in the communities we serve across our 22-state network.

FROM FARM TO RAIL TO TABLE

From fertilizers nurturing the cornfields to the grains sustaining the turkeys, and all the ingredients needed to make your favorite side dishes, our railroaders help deliver your Thanksgiving traditions:

Turkey
The centerpiece of every Thanksgiving meal, turkey is a must. Every year, we move enough feed and grain to raise over 200 million turkeys—that’s enough to feed every household in America, with 70 million turkeys left over!

Classic Sides

• Creamed Corn: NS transported 10 million tons of corn last year—enough to serve on 100 billion Thanksgiving plates or circle the globe with ears of corn 160 times.
   
• Mashed Potatoes: We move enough potatoes to serve mashed potatoes to the entire U.S. population three times over.
   
• Sweet Potato Casserole: Last year, NS delivered enough sweet potatoes to make over 160,000 casseroles.
   
• Cranberries: We helped move 1.5 million pounds of frozen cranberries each year for your cranberry sauces or jellies.
   
• Fresh Vegetables: We delivered almost 63,000 tons of fresh vegetables in the past year!
   
• Stuffing: While the recipe may vary, NS moves key staples like bread, celery, onions, broth, and more. In fact, we move enough flour to bake over 7 million loaves of bread daily!

Desserts

• Sugar: Essential for baking, NS has moved over 1 million tons of sugar this year alone.
   
• Pecan Pies & Candied Yams: We’ve transported enough corn syrup to sweeten 9 billion pecan pies and 6.4 billion dishes of candied yams.

DELIVERING FOR FARMERS DURING HARVEST SEASON

NS grain train rolls through Keystone, West Virginia

As harvest season peaks, timing is everything for America’s farmers and agribusinesses. It’s a race to gather, process, and deliver the crops that will soon fill tables across the nation.

At Norfolk Southern, we’re proud to play a pivotal role in this process. Our Operations and Marketing teams work together to serve American farmers, moving agricultural commodities like grains, soybeans, and fresh vegetables straight from the farm to processing facilities, export hubs, and markets around the world.

We pay close attention to trends, like ever-shifting weather patterns, and spot opportunities to assist our customers, even in challenging market conditions.  Through our First and Final Mile program, we provide tailored, end-to-end solutions to meet the unique needs of our agricultural customers.

Together with America’s farmers, Team NS ensures the essential ingredients for Thanksgiving reach grocery stores and markets near you—safely, reliably, and on time.

Learn more about how Norfolk Southern supports America’s agriculture industry.