CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the CSX Corporation. It is one of the two Class I's serving most of the east coast, the other being the Norfolk Southern Railway. It is the oldest railroad in North America withn a history streching back to 1827 with its predecessor the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

History

Main article: List of CSX Transportation predecessor railroads

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.

On June 23, 1997, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern filed a joint application with the Surface Transportation Board for authority to purchase, divide and operate the assets of the 11,000-mile Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), which had been created in 1976 by bringing together several ailing Northeastern railway systems into a government-owned corporation. On June 6, 1998, the STB approved the CSX-Norfolk Southern application and set August 22, 1998, as the effective date of its decision. CSX acquired 42% of Conrail's assets (Norfolk Southern got the remaining 58%). As a result of the transaction, CSX's rail operations, through its new subsidiary New York Central Lines, grew to include some 3,800 miles of the Conrail system (predominantly the former New York Central Railroad). CSX began operating its trains on its portion of the Conrail network on June 1, 1999.

CSX now serves many of the eastern U.S. states (with a few routes into nearby Canadian cities).

The name came about during merger talks between Chessie System, Inc. and Seaboard System Railroad, Inc., commonly called Chessie and Seaboard. The company chairmen said it was important for the new name to include neither of those names due to it being a partnership. Employees were asked for suggestions, most of which consisted of combinations of the initials. At the same time a temporary shorthand name was needed for discussions with the Interstate Commerce Commission. CSC was chosen but belonged to a trucking company in Virginia. CSM (for Chessie-Seaboard Merger) was also taken. The lawyers decided to use CSX, and the name stuck. In the public announcement, it was said that "CSX is singularly appropriate. C can stand for Chessie, S for Seaboard, and X, the multiplication symbol, means that together we are so much more, and T for Transportation." The T had to be added to use CSXT as a reporting mark, since company initials that end in X could only be used by non-railroad railcar owners.

CSX executive officers

See CSX Corporation.

Unit trains

CSX operates the Juice Train, train numbers K651 and K650, a famous unit train of Tropicana fresh orange juice between Bradenton, Florida, and distribution centers in Jersey City, New Jersey and Cincinnati, Ohio. in the United States.

In the 21st century, CSX Juice Trains have been the focus of efficiency studies and have received awards. They are considered good examples of how modern rail transportation can compete successfully with trucking and other modes to carry perishable products.

CSX also runs daily trash trains out from New York City, bound for Florida, train numbers K206/K207 and K276/K277. These trains usually consists of about fifty cars with four twenty foot containers of trash on each.

Locomotives

CSX has a few famous locomotives around the system, the locomotive number will be in Bold text (the current paint scheme is blue and gold):

1 has Spirit Of West Virginia Logo
295 has Spirit of Clinchfield Logo
356 has Spirit of Brunswick Logo
391 has Spirit of Dante Logo
454 has Spirit of Magnolia Logo
500 has Spirit of Grafton Logo
601 has Spirit of Waycross Logo
602 has Spirit of Maryland Logo
666 is commonly known as the devil
699, 5000, and 5001 are GE AC6000CW decorated with a "Diversity in Motion" logo on the side
700 has Spirit of Cumberland Logo
789 has Spirit of Nashville Logo
2304 has "Live Injury Free Everyday" Message
2667 is a GP38-2 still in Seaboard System paint
4601 is a SD40 still in Seaboard System paint
4617 is a SD40 still in C&O paint
4685 has Spirit of Mulberry Logo
4688 has Spirit of Tampa Logo
4699 has Spirit of Miami Logo
5571 has "Live Injury Free Everyday" Message
6000 is a GP40-2 that was the last locomotive in Chessie paint
6001 is a GP40-2 that had the first roadnumber B&O 1977
6062 is another GP40-2 that was the second locomotive that had B&O 1977
6063 is a EMD GP40-2, she is the former Chessie System GM50
8888 is a EMD SD40-2, she is famous for being a Runaway Train in Ohio
9699 is a EMD GP38 painted MOW orange, she was Trains Magazine's "All American Diesel" for 1982 (former B&O 3802, now at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland)

External links

References

Milt Dolinger, How CSX got its name, Trains

1986 establishments | CSX Transportation | Fortune 1000