That sucky “railroad” known as CSX has a great history!
The “railroad” known as CSX is described as the “least popular” among “railfans.” The “problem with CSX,” especially to young railfans, is the name (“it sucks,” and is “stupid”). The CSX practice of how it paints its “heritage” locomotives also is needlessly controversial. These notions of CSX’s name and how “heritage” locomotives are painted are petty and silly, and it’s as if CSX has no history at all. Well, history is real…history is heritage …and CSX’s history is rich and deep and forms a great heritage.
In the 1960s, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) came to believe that railroad mergers could both save the ailing railroad industry and be in the public interest. The decade saw the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) acquire the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O), along with the creation of the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL), in 1967. The Chessie System, formed in 1972, included railroads such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the Western Maryland Railway. The merger stage was set for the coming of the largest railway network of the day.
CSX Corporation was incorporated on November 14th, 1978 in Virginia for the expressed purpose of merging the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries. The Chessie System was an east-west oriented system, while Seaboard Coast Line was a north-south system. Both Chessie and Seaboard were complementary railways systems and their two year merger process was described by Chessie chairman Hays Watkins as the “love making of two porcupines.” Watkins and Seaboard Chairman Prime Osborn, followed a decision making process that saw both Chessie and Seaboard as equals. The “merger of equals” was completed on November 1st, 1980 and the goal that CSX had been created for was reached.
If you hang around this site, you’ll learn the many details of how and why the letters C-S–X were chosen and how the name graphically represents Chessie and Seaboard as equals. You will be a fan and friend of CSX forever more!
