The Chronology of the Formation of the

Atlantic Coast Line and
Seaboard Air Line Railroads

Absorption of major predecessors and affiliates
and evolution into today’s CSX Transportation

Our thanks to Bob Hanson, Larry Goolsby, and Jim Langston for compiling this information.

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

  • April 23, 1900 - Formed by consolidation of separate railroads that had comprised the Atlantic Coast Line system (ACL name was first used in 1871)

  • July 1, 1902 - ACL absorbs Plant System (lines south and east of Savannah)

  • February 14, 1903 - ACL completes purchase of 51% of Louisville & Nashville RR stock

  • January 1, 1925 - ACL and L&N jointly lease the Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio RR and begin operating it as the Clinchfield RR

  • January 1, 1927 - ACL purchases Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic, renames the RR the Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast and operates it separately

  • January 1, 1946 - ACL merges AB&C as its Western Division

  • December 31, 1959 - ACL merges Charleston & Western Carolina as its Western Carolina Division (ACL and predecessors had controlled C&WC stock since 1898)

Seaboard Air Line Railroad

  • July 1, 1900 - Formed by consolidation of separate railroads that had comprised the Seaboard Air Line system (SAL name was first used in 1871)

  • January 1, 1928 - SAL merges the Georgia, Florida & Alabama RR

  • August 1, 1946 - SAL emerges from bankruptcy, changes name from Railway to Railroad

  • March 1, 1958 - SAL merges the Macon, Dublin & Savannah RR

  • June 22, 1959 - SAL purchases the Gainesville Midland RR

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad

  • July 1, 1967 - ACL and SAL merge to form Seaboard Coast Line RR

  • July 1, 1969 - SCL merges Piedmont & Northern RR

  • May 1969 - Seaboard Coast Line Industries, holding company for SCL, formed

  • July 1974 - First issue of Family Lines News employee magazine published, replacing separate SCL and L&N magazines; “Family Lines” label had been used in other contexts for about two years, to cover SCL, L&N, Clinchfield, Georgia RR, Atlanta & West Point RR, and the Western Railway of Alabama. (The last three had been jointly leased in 1881 by ACL and the L&N.)

  • September 1976 - SCL purchases Durham & Southern RR

CSX Corporation

  • November 1, 1980 - CSX Corporation created as holding company for SCLI (holding company for the “Family Lines” group) and Chessie System

Seaboard System Railroad

  • November 4, 1982 - SCL purchases Georgia RR, first step in formation of Seaboard System

  • December 29, 1982 - SCL and L&N merge, change name to Seaboard System

  • January 1, 1983 - SBD merges the Clinchfield, Georgia, A&WP, and WofA

CSX Transportation

  • July 1, 1986 - Seaboard System renamed CSX Transportation

  • April 30, 1987 - Baltimore and Ohio is merged into Chesapeake and Ohio (which had previously absorbed Western and Maryland)

  • August 31, 1987 - Chesapeake and Ohio (Chessie System) merged into CSX Transportation

  • October 10, 1991 - Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railway merged into CSX Transportation

  • June 23, 1997 - CSX and Norfolk Southern file joint application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to purchase, divide and operate Conrail

  • June 6, 1998 - The STB approves the CSX-NS application, effective August 22, 1988; CSX acquires 42% of Conrail

  • June 1, 1999 - CSX and NS begin operating their portions of Conrail.  Conrail remains as a joint CSX-NS terminal carrier to operate “shared asset” areas in North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit