OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Norfolk Southern’s 23 percent drop in second-quarter profit follows the same story line as other railroads seeing a sharp decline in coal shipments. Norfolk Southern posted $433 million net income, or $1.41 per share. That’s down from $562 million, or $1.79 per share, a year ago. The Norfolk, Virginia, railroad fell just shy of the per-share earnings of $1.42 that analysts were looking for, according to a poll by FactSet. Norfolk Southern’s revenue decreased 11 percent to $2.71 billion because coal volume fell 21 percent and total volume declined 2 percent. That revenue figure was also more meager than expected. Union Pacific and CSX railroads both cited similar challenges when they released results earlier this month.
