Quick update on my trip: I left NOL on Monday, took the Crescent to WAS, then the Capitol Limited to CHI, and am now on the EB to Seattle. We're currently detouring around the flooding, and are going very slow due to rain and flooding around the detour track! I'm typing this on my laptop, with 1 bar showing on my cell data connection!
Anyway, the NS track on that the Crescent took between NOL and Alexandria was the ROUGHEST I've ever been on! Similarly, the NS track on the Capitol Limited was rougher than the CSX track. Going though switches/crossovers was torturous, as you would be literally slammed against the wall! The trucks would frequently "hunt" (wheel flanges hitting the rail) 4-5 times in succession. I thought NS took better care of their track than CSX, but it seems it was the opposite case on my trip. Anyone more familiar with east coast routes care to comment?