The Southern Railway was a class 1 railroad based in the Southern United States between 1894 and 1982, when it merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) to form the Norfolk Southern Railway. The railroad was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.
The Georgia and Florida Railway is a short line railroad operating in Georgia and Florida, and is a subsidiary of OmniTRAX. The railroad spans 297 miles (478 km) over numerous different rail lines, most of which radiate out of Albany, Georgia.
The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over 234 miles (377 km) of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of former CSX Transportation lines, the railroad has since undergone a number of transformations through abandonments and acquisitions, before arriving at its current form. The railroad was formerly a RailAmerica property before going independent, and in 2008 it was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
The Norfolk Southern Railway was the final name of a railroad that ran from Norfolk, Virginia, southwest and west to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1974, which merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1982 to form the current Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Atlantic and Western Railway is a Class III short-line railroad operating about 10 miles (16 km) of track in Lee County, North Carolina. Atlantic and Western is part of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and formerly part of Rail Management and Consulting. It was reorganized in 1927 from the Atlantic and Western Railroad.
The Virginia Southern Railroad is a shortline railroad division of the North Carolina and Virginia Railroad, a subsidiary of the Genesee & Wyoming, with rights to operate 78 miles (126 km) of track between Norfolk Southern Railway connections at Oxford, North Carolina and Burkeville, Virginia. The southernmost segment between Clarksville, Virginia and Oxford is out of service.
The Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates 68 miles (109 km) of track from Chesapeake, Virginia to Edenton, North Carolina.
The W Line is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It runs from Asheville, North Carolina southeasterly via Spartanburg, South Carolina to Columbia, South Carolina, but the portion northwest of Landrum, South Carolina has been closed since December 2001.
The Central Railroad of Indianapolis is a Class III short-line railroad that operates approximately 60 miles (97 km) miles of track in north central Indiana, connecting Marion, Indiana with Hartford City, Amboy, and Kokomo, Indiana. CERA interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Marion, and with U.S. Rail Corporation's Winamac Southern Rail System in Kokomo.
The Yadkin Valley Railroad is the trade name of the Piedmont and Atlantic Railroad and is a shortline railroad operating two lines leased from the Norfolk Southern Railway originating out of Rural Hall, North Carolina for a distance of 93 miles (150 km). The railroad began operation in 1989 and is currently a subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways.
Gulf & Ohio Railways is a holding company for four different short-line railroads in the Southern United States, as well as a tourist-oriented passenger train, and locomotive leasing and repair service through Knoxville Locomotive Works. Gulf & Ohio maintains its corporate headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Pine Belt Southern Railroad was a shortline railroad formerly operating on two disconnected track segments in east central Alabama. Upon its start in 1995 the railroad ran over a branch from Nuckols to Hurtsboro, Alabama. In 1996 a second branch was acquired, extending from Roanoke, Jct., near Opelika, to Lafayette, Alabama. Together the lines totaled 42.4 miles (68.2 km) and the railroad was controlled by Richard Abernathy.
East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Except for two industrial park switching operations, all are former Pennsylvania Railroad or Reading Company lines, abandoned or sold by Conrail or its predecessors.
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
The Alexander Railroad Company is a Class III shortline railroad operating in North Carolina. The railroad has 18 miles of track that runs northwest from Statesville to Taylorsville, North Carolina.
The Thoroughbred Shortline Program was a system of shortline creation devised by Norfolk Southern in the late 1980s. It involved an alternative to the typical practice of a Class I railroad selling rail lines outright to shortlines in the post-Staggers Act era. Defining features of the program included leasing lines to shortline operators, as opposed to outright sales, keeping stations available in Norfolk Southern marketing campaigns, and crediting carloads delivered to Norfolk Southern towards the lease and eventual purchase of the line. The program ran from 1988 to 1991, creating more than a dozen new shortline railroads, nearly all of which are still in operation today.
The Morehead and South Fork Railroad is a terminal switching railroad serving the port facilities of Morehead City, North Carolina and Radio Island with 9.5 miles (15.3 km) of track. Created in 2005 as a successor to Carolina Rail Services, the railroad was initially a Gulf & Ohio subsidiary before a change of contract in 2010 transferred operational responsibility to the Carolina Coastal Railway.
The Carolina & Northwestern Railway (Ca&NW) was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina from 1897 until January 1, 1974. The original line was operated by the Ca&NW as a separate railroad controlled by the Southern Railway until 1974 when the name was changed to the Norfolk Southern Railway. On June 1, 1982, Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western Railroad merged to form Norfolk Southern Railway. Choosing to use the name 'Norfolk Southern Railway' for the merger, in 1981, the original Ca&NW line along with original Norfolk Southern Railway was renamed Carolina and Northwestern once again. In the early 1950s several shortline subsidiaries of the Southern Railway were leased to the Ca&NW for operation, with these lines remaining a part of the Ca&NW into the 1980s.
The Thermal Belt Railway is a Class III shortline railroad that operates for freight service on an irregular schedule on a former CSX line from Bostic to Forest City and on a former Norfolk Southern line from Forest City to Alexander Mills, North Carolina. Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85 pounds.
The Caldwell County Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad operating over 17 miles between Hickory and Lenoir, North Carolina. The CWCY is operated by Southeast Shortlines, Inc., which also operates the Thermal Belt Railway.
