The Columbia and Sumter Railroad was a railroad in

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 ...

running between those two cities that began operating immediately after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It later 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 ...

network. The railroad is still in service today and it is now operated 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 ...

as their Eastover Subdivision.

History

The Columbia and Sumter Railroad was chartered by the

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and ...

in 1866, shortly after the

. It only briefly operated as an independent railroad before it was sold to the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad (the successor to the

Wilmington and Manchester Railroad The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War. It received its charter in 1846 and began operation in 1853 from Wilmington, North Carolina, exten ...

) in 1870. The Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta lasted until 1898 when it was absorbed into the

. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad operated the line for many years as their Sumter—Columbia Line and they operated both passenger and freight service. Sumter was a major hub for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. By 1902, passenger trains began operating to Columbia's newly-built

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

along with the Southern Railway. In the 1950s, the Atlantic Coast Line was operating a daily local passenger train on the line and two daily through freight trains. An additional local freight train also ran the line six days a week at the same time.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> The Atlantic Coast Line became 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) in 1967 after merging with their rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL). The Seaboard Coast Line adopted the Seaboard Air Line's method of naming their lines as subdivisions and company gave the line its current designation, the Eastover Subdivision. By 1971, only freight trains were operating on the line.Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence Division Timetable (1971)
/ref> 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

Current operations

CSX still operates the Eastover Subdivision today. It connects with CSX's

S Line S, or s, is the nineteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and other latin alphabets worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. ...

( Columbia Subdivision) and a couple of

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

(the successor to the Southern Railway) lines in Columbia. The Eastover Subdivision notably serves a Sylvamo paper mill near Eastover.

Historic stations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia and Sumter Railroad Defunct South Carolina railroads Railway companies established in 1866 Railway companies disestablished in 1870 1866 establishments in South Carolina American companies established in 1866 American companies disestablished in 1870 1870 disestablishments in South Carolina