Atlantic
Coast Line Railroad - (en)
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (AAR reporting marks 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 mapThe 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 linesThe 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 corner 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 FloridaThe 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 Harbor 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.
