The Charleston Subdivision is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

territory owned by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

in the

U.S. states In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The line from

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

, to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, for a total of 195.8 miles. At its north end it continues south from the South End Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the Savannah Subdivision of the Jacksonville Division. The Charleston Subdivision is a portion of the Florence Division that includes part of CSX's A Line, one of their main lines which ultimately extends from

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. Charleston Subdivision also includes a flat switching yard in North Charleston named Bennett Yard, as well as a satellite yard located in downtown Charleston called Cooper Yard which primarily holds tanks.

History

The line from Florence to

North Charleston North Charleston is a city in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. As ...

was originally built as the Northeastern Railroad in 1856. The Northeastern Railroad became part of the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

in 1898. The line south of Johns Island (just southwest of Charleston) was originally chartered in 1854 by the Charleston and Savannah Railroad (later known as the

Charleston and Savannah Railway The Charleston and Savannah Railway was a 19th-century American railroad serving the coastal states of South Carolina and Georgia and running through part of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Its name varied slightly over time: * Charleston and Sav ...

). The line from North Charleston to Johns Island, including the bridge over the

Ashley River The Ashley River is a blackwater and tidal river in South Carolina, rising from the Wassamassaw and Great Cypress Swamps in western Berkeley County. It consolidates its main channel about five miles west of Summerville, widening into a ti ...

, was built as the

Ashley River Railroad The Ashley River Railroad was a shortline railroad that served the South Carolina Lowcountry region in the late 19th century. The Ashley River Railroad was incorporated by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1875 and, according to an article i ...

, which opened in on December 27, 1877. This was the final link in what would become the

mainline (the CSX A Line). The Charleston and Savannah Railway and the Ashley River Railroad came under the ownership of

Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...

in the 1880s. The

Plant System The Plant System, named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system was the Savannah, Florida and Western ...

would then be bought by the

in 1902. In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) and its competitor, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) merged to create the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

(SCL). The first few months after the merger, the line was known as the Southover Subdivision. This was due to the fact that a nearly parallel ex-SAL route still existed just to the east from Charleston to Savannah (the

East Carolina Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's East Carolina Line (H Line) was the unofficial name of their line running from Hamlet, North Carolina through eastern South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia. Officially designated on Seaboard employee timetables as ...

). This line was still designated as the Charleston Subdivision (which the SAL named it prior to the merger). Though, a few months after the merger, the ex-SAL route was severed as a through route and the SCL then used the Charleston Subdivision designation to rename the Southover Subdivision. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated u ...

, creating the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merge ...

. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into

References

{{Reflist CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Georgia (U.S. state) Rail infrastructure in South Carolina

History

See also

References