Main Line (Atlantic Coast Line Railroad)

The CSX A Line forms the backbone of the historic Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line, the backbone of their network in the southeastern United States. The main line runs from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passes through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Florence, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando. With the exception of a short 61-mile segment in Greater Orlando (which is now state-owned), the entire line is owned by CSX Transportation.

CSX A Line
CSX A Line near Moncks Corner, South Carolina
Overview
Other name(s)	Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line
Status	Operating
Owner	Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (1900-1967) Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (1967-1986) CSX Transportation (1986-present)
Termini	Richmond, Virginia Port Tampa, Florida
Technical
Line length	890.1 mi (1,432.5 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No
Signalling	Centralized traffic control
Route map The CSX A Line (red) in relation to the S Line (blue)

History

By the time the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) was officially created, track that would make up its main line had already been built by the company's predecessors.^[1] The main line was built in the late 1800s by the following companies:

• Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, Manchester, Virginia to Petersburg, Virginia
• Petersburg Railroad, Petersburg to Weldon, North Carolina
• Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Weldon to Wilson, North Carolina
• Fayetteville Cutoff, Wilson to Pee Dee, South Carolina
• Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, Pee Dee to Florence, South Carolina
• Northeastern Railroad, Florence to Charleston, South Carolina
• Predecessors of the Plant System:
  • Ashley River Railroad, around Charleston
  • Charleston and Savannah Railway, Charleston to Savannah, Georgia
  • Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, Savannah to Jesup, Georgia
  • Folkston Cutoff, Jesup to Folkston, Georgia
  • Waycross and Florida Railroad, Folkston to Georgia/Florida state line
  • East Florida Railway, state line to Jacksonville, Florida
  • Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway, Jacksonville to Sanford, Florida
  • South Florida Railroad, Sanford to Port Tampa, Florida

Arch bridge over the James River at the north end of the main line near Richmond (as seen in 1985)

The process to combine these individual railroads into a unified system began around 1898.^[1] By 1900, the system north of Charleston was officially merged into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. In 1902, the Atlantic Coast Line acquired the Plant System, which expanded the network into Georgia and Florida and nearly doubled the size of the network.^[2]

Due to increasing traffic and the Florida land boom of the 1920s, the ACL began work to double track 661 miles of the main line from Richmond to Jacksonville in 1922. The double track was complete in 1925, two years ahead of schedule. Automatic block signals were installed at the same time.^[2] In later years, much of the main line would be restored to single track with centralized traffic control and passing sidings.^[3]

The line carried many of the Atlantic Coast Line's passenger and freight trains though the years. Many of the company's passenger trains on the main line were from the northeast to Florida, which included:^[1][4]

• Champion (New York - Tampa/St. Petersburg, and New York - Miami)
• Everglades (New York – Jacksonville)
• Florida Special (New York – Miami/St. Petersburg)
• Gulf Coast Special (New York – Tampa/Ft. Myers/St. Petersburg)
• Havana Special (New York – Key West, via the Florida East Coast Railway prior to the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.)
• Miamian (Washington – Miami)
• Vacationer (New York – Miami)

In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with their long-time rival, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL). The SAL also had a main line running from Richmond, Virginia to Tampa, Florida that was roughly parallel to the ACL's main line.^[2] The two main lines crossed each other in Centralia, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Plant City. After the merger was complete, the company was named the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL), who largely retained both main lines in the combined network.^[5] To differentiate the two main lines, the Seaboard Coast Line designated the ACL's main line as the A Line and the SAL's main line as the S Line. The letter A was added as a prefix to the mileposts on the A Line (A was also added to the beginning of the pre-existing letter prefixes on the ACL's branch lines).

CSX train passing through Hilliard, Florida on the former ACL main line

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation.^[2]

Current operations

The full line from Richmond to Port Tampa is still in service. In 2011, CSX sold a 61-mile segment from Deland, Florida to Poinciana, Florida in the Greater Orlando area to the Florida Department of Transportation, who now operates the SunRail commuter rail service on that segment.^[6] Other than that, CSX still owns and operates the rest of the line. Many CSX freight trains and Amtrak trains runs the line daily. From north to south, the A Line is designated by CSX as the North End Subdivision, South End Subdivision, Charleston Subdivision, Savannah Subdivision, Nahunta Subdivision, Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision, Sanford Subdivision, Carters Subdivision, Lakeland Subdivision, and the Tampa Terminal Subdivision.^[7]

Historic stations

State	Milepost[8]	City/Location	Station[9][10]	Image	Connections and notes
VA		Richmond	Broad Street Station		opened in 1917 replacing Byrd Street Station located on Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
	ARN 3.6		AY Interlocking		junction with Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
	ARN 0.0 A 0.0		Bridge over James River
	A 1.0		Meadow
	A 5.5		FA Junction
	A 10.7	Centralia	Centralia
	A 12.8	Chester	Chester		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
	A 19.4		Dunlop
	A 22.0	Petersburg	Petersburg Union Station		replaced original station in 1910 and replaced by the current station in 1955 (which is located on a bypass track around Petersburg built in the 1930s) junction with Southside Railroad (N&W)
	A 27.1		Collier Yard
	A 31.4		Reams
	A 36.0	Carson	Carson
	A 43.2	Stony Creek	Stony Creek
	A 53.2	Jarratt	Jarratt		junction with Virginian Railway (N&W)
	A 62.8	Emporia	Emporia		originally Hicksford junction with Atlantic and Danville Railway
	A 68.1	Skippers	Trego
NC	A 74.4	Pleasant Hill	Pleasant Hill
	A 80.1	Garysburg	Garysburg
	A 82.6	Weldon	Weldon		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Portsmouth Subdivision
	A 89.9	Halifax	Halifax
	A 91.7		Pender		junction with Kinston Branch
	A 92.6		Ruggles
	A 100.9	Enfield	Enfield
	A 107.0	Whitakers	Whitakers
	A 111.2	Battleboro	Battleboro
	A 114.7		Schrader
	A 119.6	Rocky Mount	Rocky Mount		Amtrak Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, and Silver Star station rebuilt in 1911, 1916, and in the 1960s junction with Nashville Branch
	A 121.2		South Rocky Mount		junction with Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line
	A 125.6	Sharpsburg	Sharpsburg
	A 128.6		Joyner
	A 129.4	Elm City	Elm City
	A 135.7	Wilson	Wilson		Amtrak Carolinian, Palmetto rebuilt in 1924 junction with Norfolk Southern Railway (SOU)
	A 138.9		Contentnea		junction with Wilmington Line
	A 144.2	Lucama	Lucama
	A 151.2	Kenly	Kenly		named for ACL president John R. Kenly
	A 156.3	Micro	Micro
	A 161.2	Selma	Selma Union Depot		Amtrak Carolinian, Palmetto replaced original station in 1924 junction with the North Carolina Railroad (SOU)
	A 164.8	Smithfield	Smithfield		junction with Midland Branch
	A 171.5	Four Oaks	Four Oaks
	A 180.0	Benson	Benson
	A 186.0	Dunn	Dunn
	A 194.6	Godwin	Godwin
	A 198.5	Wade	Wade
	A 204.1		Beard
	A 209.7	Fayetteville	Fayetteville		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto current station built in 1911 junction with: Sanford Branch Raleigh and Southport Railroad (NS)
	A 216.1	Hope Mills	Hope Mills		junction with Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad
	A 222.9	Parkton	Parkton		junction with Parkton—Sumter Line
	A 227.7	Rex	Rex
	A 230.2	Rennert	Rennert
	A 236.5		Buie
	A 241.3	Pembroke	Pembroke		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Wilmington Subdivision
	A 246.3	Elrod	Elrod		junction with Myrtle Beach Branch
A 252.8	Rowland	Rowland
SC	A 257.1	Hamer	Hamer
	A 262.2	Dillon	Dillon		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Andrews Subdivision
	A 269.1	Latta	Latta
	A 273.4	Sellers	Sellers
	A 280.1		Pee Dee		junction with Wilmington—Pee Dee Line
	A 283.1		Winona
	A 286.3	Mars Bluff	Mars Bluff
	A 292.7	Florence	Florence		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto station rebuilt in 1910 junction with: Florence—Robbins Line Wadesboro—Florence Line Seaboard Air Line Railroad Hartsville Subdivision
	A 300.0		Java
	A 303.3	Effingham	Effingham
	A 309.4	Coward	Coward
	A 313.7	Scranton	Scranton
	A 316.1	Lake City	Lake City
	A 322.2	Cades	Cades
	A 331.1	Kingstree	Kingstree		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto station rebuilt in 1909
	A 336.5	Salters	Salters
	A 341.1	Lane	Lane		also listed as Lanes on employee timetables junction with Sumter–Lanes Line
	A 344.9		Santee Bluff
	A 349.6	St. Stephen	St. Stephen
	A 356.7	Bonneau	Bonneau
	A 365.0	Moncks Corner	Moncks Corner
	A 376.1	Mount Holly	Mount Holly
	A 383.3	Hanahan	Hanahan
	A 387.7	North Charleston	Charleston		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto replaced Charleston Union Station in 1957 rebuilt as the Charleston Intermodal Center in 2018
	A 388.4		Ashley Junction		junction with South Carolina Railroad (SOU)
	ACN 394.6	Charleston	Charleston Union Station		located on a spur at East Bay Street & Columbus Street station building burned down in 1947 and platform closed in 1957[11]
	A 389.3		Bennett
	A 398.7	Johns Island	Johns Island		junction with Croghans Branch
	A 406.7	Ravenel	Ravenel		junction with Yonges Island Branch
	A 415.8	Parkers Ferry	Parkers Ferry
	A 419.2	Jacksonboro	Jacksonboro
	A 428.7	Green Pond	Green Pond		junction with Walterboro Branch
	A 432.3		White Hall
	A 443.0	Yemassee	Yemassee		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto parts of the station rebuilt in 1955 junction with Charleston and Western Carolina Railway (ACL)
	A 449.6		Gilmania
	A 459.3	Ridgeland	Ridgeland
	A 473.9	Hardeeville	Hardeeville
	A 478.5		Sand Island
GA	A 490.4	Savannah	Central Junction		junction with: Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line & Savannah Subdivision Savannah and Atlantic Railroad (CoG)
	A 490.9		Savannah Union Station		accessed via a spur track
	A 504.4		Burroughs		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
	A 508.6	Richmond Hill	Richmond Hill		originally Ways
	A 514.4		Fleming
	A 522.8		McIntosh		junction with Savannah, Hinesville and Western Railway
	A 528.8	Walthourville	Walthourville
	A 537.6	Ludowici	Ludowici		originally Johnston Station junction with Georgia Coast and Piedmont Railroad
	A 543.7		Doctortown
	A 548.2	Jesup	Jesup		Amtrak Silver Meteor junction with: Jesup—Waycross Line Macon and Brunswick Railroad (SOU)
	A 553.0		Leake
	A 558.3		Broadhurst
	A 563.5		O'Neal
	A 567.7	Hortense	Hortense		Junction with Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad (AB&A/ACL)
	A 573.2		Raybon
	A 576.9	Nahunta	Nahunta		junction with Waycross–Brunswick Line
	A 582.0		Shea
	A 588.5		Winokur
	A 592.0		Newell
	A 602.5	Folkston	Folkston		junction with Waycross—Folkston Line
FL	A 608.5	Boulogne	Boulogne
	A 614.5	Hilliard	Hilliard
	A 620.1	Dyal	Dyal
	A 624.5	Callahan	Callahan		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Gross Subdivision
	A 635.2		Dinsmore
	A 640.0	Jacksonville	Grand Crossing		junction with Wilcox Line
	A 640.3		Moncrief Yard
	A 643.7		Jacksonville Union Terminal		junction with: Florida East Coast Railway Main Line Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway (GS&F/SOU)
	A 649.9		McGirts
	A 654.0	Yukon	Yukon		originally Black Point
	A 658.6	Orange Park	Orange Park
	A 665.1	Doctor's Inlet	Doctor's Inlet
	A 668.5		Russell		originally Fleming
	A 672.6	Green Cove Springs	Green Cove Springs
	A 676.1		Walkill
	A 682.2		West Tocoi
	A 690.8	Bostwick	Bostwick
	A 696.7		Pecan
	A 698.0	Palatka	Palatka Union Station		Amtrak Silver Meteor and Silver Star junction with: Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Palatka Branch Florida East Coast Railway Palatka Branch Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad (SOU) Ocklawaha Valley Railroad
	A 700.4		Lundy
	A 708.1	Satsuma	Satsuma
	A 712.2	Pomona Park	Pomona Park		originally Pomona
	A 716.7	Huntington	Huntington
	A 719.3	Crescent City	Crescent City
	A 722.2		Longs
	A 726.6	Seville	Seville
	A 732.0	Pierson	Pierson
	A 737.9	Barberville	Barberville
	A 743.1	DeLeon Springs	DeLeon Springs		originally Spring Garden
	A 746.3	Glenwood	Glenwood
	A 750.0	West DeLand	DeLand		Amtrak Silver Meteor and Silver Star originally DeLand Junction junction with DeLand and St. Johns River Railroad (ACL)
	A 754.8	Orange City	Orange City		junction with Florida East Coast Railway Orange City Branch
	A 760.8	DeBary	Benson Junction		junction with Florida East Coast Railway Enterprise Branch
	A 764.5	Sanford	Rands		Currently the location of the Rand Yard
	A 766.3		Sanford		Amtrak Auto Train junction with: Leesburg Branch Lake Charm Branch
	A 771.3	Lake Mary	Lake Mary
	A 778.4	Longwood	Longwood
	A 781.3	Altamonte Springs	Altamonte Springs		Originally Snowville
	A 783.0	Maitland	Maitland
	A 785.6	Winter Park	Winter Park		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Silver Star and Sunset Limited rebuilt in 1912 and 1962
	A 791.1	Orlando	Church Street Station		closed in 1926, reopened as SunRail station in 2014 junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Orlando Subdivision
	A 790.4		Orlando		Amtrak Silver Meteor, Silver Star and Sunset Limited replaced Church Street Station in 1926
	A 793.1	Pine Castle	Pine Castle
	A 798.4	Taft	Taft		originally Big Cypress
	A 808.0	Kissimmee	Kissimmee		Amtrak Silver Meteor and Silver Star junction with: Narcoosee Branch Florida Midland Branch
	A 812.0	Campbell	Campbell
	A 819.1	Loughman	Loughman		originally Lake Locke
	A 824.8	Davenport	Davenport
	A 829.4	Haines City	Haines City		junction with Haines City Branch
	A 835.6	Lake Alfred	Lake Alfred		originally Bartow Junction junction with Bartow Branch
	A 839.7	Auburndale	Auburndale		junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Miami Subdivision
	A 844.7	Fussels Corner	Carters
	A 851.8	Lakeland	Lakeland		Amtrak Silver Star rebuilt in 1910 and 1998 junction with: High Springs—Lakeland Line Lakeland—Fort Myers Line
	A 855.4		Winston		junction with Bone Valley Branch
	A 858.4		Youmans
	A 861.1	Plant City	Plant City Union Depot		replaced original station in 1909 junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
	A 867.8	Dover	Dover		originally known as Cork[12]
	A 870.9	Seffner	Seffner
	A 873.5	Mango	Mango
	A 878.8	Tampa	Uceta		junction with Sarasota Line
	A 879.6		Thonotosassa Junction		junction with Vitis—Tampa Line
	A 881.7		Tampa Union Station		Amtrak Silver Star replaced original station in 1912 junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad
	A 890.1		Port Tampa

References

1. Schafer, Mike (2003). Classic American Railroads, Volume III. Saint Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. pp. 9–17. ISBN 978-0-7603-1649-8.
2. Turner, Gregg (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
3. "ACL Signals - The A-Line". Rails in Virginia. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
4. "Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Condensed Tables, Table 1, 2". Official Guide of the Railways. 82 (8). National Railway Publication Company. January 1950.
5. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Jacksonville Division and Tampa Division Timetable (1977)
6. "SunRail gets go-ahead". Gulf Coast Business Review. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
7. CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
8. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Condensed Profile (1953)
9. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
10. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
11. "Charleston, SC (CHS)". The Great American Stations. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
12. "HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY. HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY REPORT". Retrieved 28 October 2020.