| Seaboard System Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Reporting mark | SBD |
| Locale | Southeastern United States |
| Dates of operation | 1983–1986 |
| Predecessor | Seaboard Coast Line Industries (Family Lines) |
| Successor | CSX Transportation |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Jacksonville, Florida |
The Seaboard System Railroad (reporting mark SBD) was a former Class I railroad created by merging the railroads of the Family Lines System. Although sharing common ownership, the railroads of the Family Lines System used different names when conducting business. In order to alleviate confusion and facilitate the eventual merger of the railroad subsidiaries of CSX Corporation, the Seaboard System was created effective January 1, 1983. The company was merged on July 1, 1986 with the Chessie System to form CSX Transportation.
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The Seaboard's roots were in Seaboard Coast Line Industries, a holding company created in 1972 in order to combine the SCL's subsidiary railroads into a single entity. Although a new unified Family Lines System name and logo was adopted, each railroad under its control maintained its identity. This arrangement often caused confusion among customers of the railroad.[1]
On November 1, 1980, CSX Corporation acquired both the Family Lines group as well as the Chessie System. Although now sharing a common owner, the two railroads remained as distinct operating entities. Effective January 1, 1983, the Family Lines group subsidiaries were merged into a single operating unit, the Seaboard System.[1][2] The new railroad was quick to shed the confusing nature of its predecessor by creating a new logo, using new universally applied reporting marks, and by adopting a new stylized font; a variant of ITC Eras Demi.[1][3]
Effective July 1, 1986, the Seaboard System was merged with the Chessie System to form CSX Transportation.
Within its short existence of only four years, the Seaboard was considered a temporary railroad. Within its timeframe, the SBD refined equipment to meet the C&O/B&O standards (most noticeably on their new EMD SD50's at the time), discontinued a few railroad traditions, abandoned the use of MARS lights on locomotives, merged away smaller companies, and introduced a numbering system that partially became meshed within the B&O/C&O locomotive fleet. Once CSX Transportation began, the refinements of Seaboard and Chessie System were well combined.
| Seaboard System Railroad Mergers | |
|---|---|
| Railroad | Date |
| South Carolina Pacific Railway | April 30, 1984 |
| Louisville, Henderson and St. Louis Railway | July 1984 |
| Gainesville Midland | 1985 |
| Atlanta & West Point Railroad | June 1986 |
| Columbia, Newberry & Laurens | June 1986 |
Once the ICC approved of the merger, the Seaboard System Railroad was renamed as CSX Transportation on June 1, 1986. The railroad began applying the CSX Transportation logo and paint scheme on a few of its locomotives. On April 30, 1987, the Baltimore & Ohio was merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio; with the C&O merging into CSX Transportation on August 30, 1987. All the major parts of CSX were now one company.[3] (The Western Railway of Alabama would remain an operating subsidiary until December 2002, when it was finally merged into CSX.[4])
This section lists the operating divisions of the Seaboard System as of January 1, 1985:[5]
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