The line from Florence to
North Charleston was originally built as the
Northeastern Railroad in 1856. The Northeastern Railroad became part of the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 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 line from North Charleston to Johns Island, including the bridge over the
Ashley River, was built as the
Ashley River Railroad, which opened in on December 27, 1877. This was the final link in what would become the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad mainline (the CSX A Line). The Charleston and Savannah Railway and the Ashley River Railroad came under the ownership of
Henry B. Plant in the 1880s. The
Plant System would then be bought by the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 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 (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). 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, creating the
CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into
CSX Transportation. ==See also==