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Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

                  Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
                              logo
    Reporting marks   ACL
         Locale       United States Atlantic Coast
   Dates of operation 1840 – July 1, 1967
     Successor line   Seaboard Coast Line
      Track gauge     4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
      Headquarters    Jacksonville, FL

          There is also an Atlantic Coast Line in Cornwall, England.

   The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ( AAR reporting mark ACL) was an
   American railroad that existed between 1898 and July 1, 1967, when it
   merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to
   form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The company was headquartered in
   Jacksonville, Florida ( Wilmington, North Carolina before 1961). After
   several more mergers and consolidations, the former ACL is now part of
   CSX Transportation, also headquartered in Jacksonville.

History

   1914 map
   Enlarge
   1914 map

   The Atlantic Coast Line Company was organized on May 29, 1889 as a
   holding company for a system of railroads from Richmond and Norfolk,
   Virginia south and southwest to Augusta, Georgia.

North Carolina

   The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad was chartered in 1835, opening in
   1840 from Wilmington, North Carolina north to Weldon, where the
   Petersburg Railroad continued to Petersburg, Virginia. The name was
   changed in 1855 to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.

   The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was chartered in 1846 and opened
   in 1853 from Wilmington west to Camden Crossing, South Carolina on the
   South Carolina Railroad's branch to Camden. After the American Civil
   War, the company was reorganized in 1870 as the Wilmington, Columbia
   and Augusta Railroad, opening an extension west to Columbia in 1873 but
   never reaching Augusta, Georgia.

   In 1872 the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad leased the
   Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, forming a continuous line through
   Wilmington, which was advertised as the Atlantic Coast Line. That lease
   was cancelled in 1878 due to the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta's
   bankruptcy; that company was sold in 1879 and reorganized in 1880 under
   the same name.

   Over the years, the Wilmington and Weldon bought many other lines. Most
   notable among those was the Wilson and Fayetteville Railroad, built as
   a cutoff from near Wilson to the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta at
   Pee Dee, South Carolina. This was chartered in South Carolina as the
   Florence Railroad.

South Carolina

   1885 map, when it was a loose system of affiliated lines
   Enlarge
   1885 map, when it was a loose system of affiliated lines

   The Northeastern Railroad was chartered in 1851 and opened in 1856 from
   Charleston north to the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad at Florence.
   The Central Railroad, connecting this line at Lane northwest to the
   Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad at Sumter, was chartered in
   1881 and opened in 1882. From opening it was leased by both railroads
   in connected to.

   The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad of South Carolina was formed on July
   18, 1898 as a consolidation of the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta
   Railroad and Northeastern Railroad with several other lines:
     * The Florence Railroad was chartered in 1882, continuing the Wilson
       and Fayetteville Railroad from the North Carolina state line
       south-southwest to the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta at Pee Dee.
       This was part of a shorter route avoiding Wilmington, North
       Carolina.
     * The Cheraw and Darlington Railroad was chartered in 1849 and opened
       in 1853, running from Florence north via Darlington to Cheraw. The
       Cheraw and Darlington acquired the Cheraw and Salisbury Railroad,
       an extension north to Wadesboro, North Carolina, in 1892.
     * The Manchester and Augusta Railroad was chartered in 1875, and
       built a line from Sumter southwest to Denmark. On June 30, 1899,
       the ACL opened a continuation west-southwest to the Charleston and
       Western Carolina Railway at Robbins.

   The Central Railroad stayed separate, leased but not merged.

   Also involved in this was the Charleston, Sumter and Northern Railroad,
   a failed plan to build a main line from Charleston through Sumter into
   North Carolina. That company went bankrupt in 1892, and the bridge over
   the Santee River burned down. In 1895 the ACL bought and reorganized it
   as the Charleston and Northern Railroad to prevent it from being used
   by a competitor. The short Wilson and Summerton Railroad acquired a
   section south of Sumter, the Manchester and Augusta Railroad obtained
   the southernmost section (cut from the rest by the burned bridge) and
   the line from Sumter northeast to Darlington, extending the M&A's line
   to Darlington, and the Cheraw and Darlington Railroad was assigned the
   rest of the line, from Darlington north to Gibson, North Carolina. All
   but the Wilson and Summerton became part of the ACL in 1898. That
   company was renamed to the Northwestern Railroad in 1899, and with help
   from the ACL built an extension northwest from Sumter to Camden, opened
   in 1901.

   In August 1899 the ACL acquired a half interest in the Georgia Railroad
   and Banking Company, fully owned by the Louisville and Nashville
   Railroad since 1898. This gave the ACL access to Atlanta and Macon,
   Georgia via the former Manchester and Augusta Railroad and the Georgia
   Railroad.

   By 1899 the ACL also owned the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway,
   running from Port Royal, South Carolina at the south orner of the state
   northwest into the northwest part of the state, with lines ending at
   Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg.

Virginia

   The Petersburg Railroad was chartered in 1830 and opened in 1833,
   running from Petersburg, Virginia south to Garysburg, North Carolina,
   from which it ran to Weldon via trackage rights over the Seaboard and
   Roanoke Railroad (later eliminated with a new alignment). The Richmond
   and Petersburg Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1838,
   continuing north from Petersburg to Richmond.

   In March 1898, the Petersburg Railroad was merged into the Richmond and
   Petersburg, which was renamed to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad of
   Virginia on November 21.

   The Norfolk and Carolina Railroad was chartered in 1887 as the Chowan
   and Southern Railroad and renamed in 1889, opening in 1890 as a
   connection from the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad's branch to Tarboro,
   North Carolina northeast to Pinner's Point, Virginia, serving the
   Hampton Roads area.

Florida and Georgia

   The Plant System was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S.
   South, founded by Florida's west coast developer Henry B. Plant. After
   his death in 1899, the Plant system was taken over by the Atlantic
   Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system, named
   after its owner, Henry Plant, was the Savannah, Florida and Western
   Railway, running across southern Georgia.

forming the ACL by mergers and later history

   1914 map of the lines through Florida
   Enlarge
   1914 map of the lines through Florida

   The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was formed on April 21, 1900 as a
   merger of the two companies in Virginia and South Carolina, as well as
   the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and Norfolk and Carolina Railroad.

   In 1902 the ACL acquired the massive Plant System, stretching from
   Charleston, South Carolina southwest via Savannah, Georgia to Waycross,
   with lines branching out from there to Albany, Georgia, Montgomery,
   Alabama, and many points in Florida (including the main line to Tampa).
   The Jacksonville and Southwestern Railroad was bought July 28, 1904,
   running from Jacksonville, Florida southwest to Newberry. Around this
   time, the ACL built a new line from High Springs south to Juliette,
   Florida, connecting two Plant System lines and forming a shortcut
   around Gainesville down the west side of Florida.

   The ACL bought the large Louisville and Nashville Railroad system on
   November 1, 1902, but kept operations separate for its entire life.

   A short branch from Climax, Georgia south to Amsterdam opened in 1903.

   The ACL bought the Conway Coast and Western Railroad on July 1, 1912,
   giving it access to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

   On October 15, 1913, the ACL acquired the Sanford and Everglades
   Railroad, a short line near Sanford, Florida.

   The Florida Central Railroad, bought February 27, 1915, provided a spur
   to Fanlew, Florida.

   In July 1922 the ACL acquired the Rockingham Railroad, extending the
   former Charleston, Sumter and Northern Railroad from Gibson, North
   Carolina to Rockingham.

   Also in 1922 the ACL leased the Virginia and Carolina Southern
   Railroad, running from Fayetteville, North Carolina south to Lumberton
   with a spur to Elizabethtown.

   The ACL acquired the Moore Haven and Clewiston Railway on July 1, 1925,
   and the Deep Lake Railroad, a short line from the Gulf of Mexico port
   of Everglades City north to Deep Lake, Florida, on December 8, 1928.
   These formed short parts of a new line from the main line at Haines
   City south to Everglades City, with a branch to Lake Harbour on Lake
   Okeechobee via Moore Haven and Clewiston.

   Also in 1925, the ACL leased the Fort Myers Southern Railroad, which
   continued the line of the Florida Southern Railroad south from Fort
   Myers to Marco. That same year, the Tampa Southern Railroad was leased,
   running from Uceta Yard in eastern Tampa south via Sarasota to the
   Florida Southern at Fort Ogden.

   In 1926 the ACL acquired the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad,
   running from the end of the old Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta
   Railroad at Columbia, South Carolina northwest to Laurens.

   The ACL incorporated the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad on
   November 22, 1926 as a reorganization of the Atlantic, Birmingham and
   Atlantic Railway. This gave the ACL lines from Waycross to Atlanta,
   Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama, with a branch east to Brunswick

   On May 1, 1927 the ACL leased the Washington and Vandemere Railroad,
   extending the old Wilmington and Weldon Railroad branch to Washington
   southeast to Vandemere.

   In 1928 the Perry Cutoff was finished, providing a new shortcut from
   Thomasville, Georgia via Perry, Florida to Dunnellon, Florida, with a
   branch to Newberry, Florida. Additionally, the old Tampa and
   Thonotosassa Railroad line was extended northeast from Thonotosassa to
   Vitis, providing a shortcut between Tampa and the newly-important west
   Florida line.

   The ACL acquired the East Carolina Railway at some point, running south
   from Tarboro to Hookerton.

Seaboard Coast Line, CSX Transportation

   On July 1, 1967 the ACL merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its
   longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.

   CSX Transportation was formed on July 1, 1986 as a renaming of the
   Seaboard System Railroad, which had absorbed the former Atlantic Coast
   Line Railroad, Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Seaboard Air Line
   Railroad, as well as several smaller subsidiaries. On August 31, 1987
   the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, which had absorbed the Baltimore and
   Ohio Railroad April 30 of that year, merged into CSX. The merger had
   been started in 1980 with the merger of Chessie System and Seaboard
   Coast Line Industries to form the CSX Corporation.

Station listing

   For stations on the main line (now CSX's "A" line), see the following
   articles:
     * Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, Richmond, Virginia to Petersburg,
       Virginia
     * Petersburg Railroad, Petersburg to Weldon, North Carolina
     * Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Weldon to Wilson, North Carolina
     * Wilson and Fayetteville Railroad, Wilson to North Carolina/South
       Carolina state line
     * Florence Railroad, state line to Pee Dee, South Carolina
     * Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, Pee Dee to Florence, South
       Carolina
     * Northeastern Railroad, Florence to Charleston, South Carolina
     * Plant System railroads:
          + Ashley River Railroad, around Charleston
          + Charleston and Savannah Railroad, Charleston to Savannah,
            Georgia
          + Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, Savannah to Jesup, Georgia
          + Folkston Cutoff, Jesup to Folkston, Georgia
          + Waycross and Florida Railroad, Folkston to Georgia/Florida
            state line
          + East Florida Railroad, state line to Jacksonville, Florida
          + Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway, Jacksonville to
            Sanford, Florida
          + South Florida Railroad, Sanford to Tampa, Florida

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   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Coast_Line_Railroad"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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