SCL | History

Home » Appalachian Railroads » Seaboard Coast Line Railroad – SCL » SCL | History
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad - SCL

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Historical Timeline

The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) was formed from the merger of two long-time rivals, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL), in 1967. It became a major force in the southeastern U.S. before it was consolidated into the Seaboard System Railroad in 1983. 

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) predecessors

  • 1830: The Petersburg Railroad is chartered in Virginia.
  • 1840: The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, an early predecessor, is completed between Wilmington and Weldon, North Carolina.
  • 1898: The Atlantic Coast Line name is first used for a collection of railroads, with the official consolidation creating the ACL in 1900.
  • 1902: ACL acquires the Plant System, which expands the network into Georgia and Florida.
  • 1902: ACL acquires a controlling stake in the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N).
  • 1925: ACL and L&N jointly lease the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railroad, renaming it the Clinchfield Railroad.
  • 1946: The Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad is merged into the ACL.
  • 1959: The Charleston and Western Carolina Railway is merged into the ACL. 

Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) predecessors

  • 1871: The “Seaboard Air-Line System” is first used informally for a network of railroads.
  • 1900: The Seaboard Air Line Railway is formally incorporated.
  • 1928: SAL merges with the Georgia, Florida & Alabama Railroad.
  • 1946: SAL emerges from bankruptcy, changing its name from “Railway” to “Railroad”.
  • 1959: SAL acquires the Gainesville Midland Railroad.
  • 1960: SAL opens a new headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. 

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) (1967–1982)

  • September 1958: ACL and SAL first announce intentions to merge.
  • July 1, 1967: The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad is officially formed through the merger of the ACL and SAL. The new system is the eighth largest railroad in the U.S. with nearly 10,000 miles of track.
  • May 1969: Seaboard Coast Line Industries is created as a holding company for SCL and its subsidiaries.
  • July 1, 1969: SCL acquires the Piedmont & Northern Railway.
  • May 1, 1971: All of SCL’s passenger operations are transferred to the newly formed Amtrak.
  • 1972: SCL and its subsidiaries begin marketing themselves as the “Family Lines System,” though they remain separate companies.
  • September 1976: SCL purchases the Durham & Southern Railroad.
  • 1978: A failed attempt at a merger with the Southern Pacific Railroad is called off by SCL President Prime Osborn.
  • November 1, 1980: SCL’s parent company, Seaboard Coast Line Industries, merges with Chessie System to form CSX Corporation.
  • December 29, 1982: Seaboard Coast Line is officially merged with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and other “Family Lines” components to create the Seaboard System Railroad. 

Back to Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Home Page

For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org