History
The Seaboard System's roots trace back to the Seaboard Coast Line Industries, a holding company created in 1972 that combined the SCL's subsidiary railroads into one entity. Known as the Family Lines System, this entity adopted its own logo and colors, but each railroad under the Family Lines maintained their own identities. Over time, this caused confusion among customers and in comparison to the neighboring Chessie System Railroads which had three railroads, the Family Lines had five railroads.
On November 1, 1980, the holding company CSX Corporation was created after the merger of the Seaboard Coast Line Industries and Chessie System, Inc. holding companies. This now simplified ownership of both the Chessie and Seaboard's railroads under one holding company while still keeping their identities separate. On December 29, 1982, the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville (under the Family Lines entity) were merged to form the Seaboard System Railroad, Inc. This was the first step under the CSX Corporation holding company to combine all railroads into one railroad.
Considered as a 'temporary railroad', the Seaboard System quickly began to merge away the smaller railroads that were owned under the Family Lines System entity as well as simplify equipment/management along side the Chesapeake & Ohio/Baltimore & Ohio (Chessie System) railroads. This included the Georgia Railroad (1983), South Carolina Pacific Railway (April 30, 1984), Louisville, Henderson & St. Louis Railway (July 1984), Gainesville Midland (1985), Atlanta & West Point Railroad (June 1986) and the Columbia, Newberry & Laurens (June 1986).
After the Seaboard System simplified itself as one railroad, it was renamed CSX Transportation on July 1, 1986. On April 30, 1987, the Baltimore & Ohio railroad was merged away into the Chesapeake & Ohio. Finally, on August 31, 1987, the Chesapeake & Ohio (still under the Chessie System entity for corporate reasons) was merged into the CSX Transportation. All the major railroads under CSX Corporation were now one company. (The Western Railway of Alabama would remain an operating subsidiary until December 2002, when it was finally merged into CSX.)
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