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43-540: The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ( reporting mark ACL ) 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 Line Railroad . Much of the original ACL network has been part of CSX Transportation since 1986. The Atlantic Coast Line served

86-695: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

129-672: A court decision to remand the approval of the merger on May 13, 1965, citing the Clayton Antitrust Act . Following another round of court decisions in 1966, the merger was allowed to proceed, and did so on July 1, 1967. The result was the creation of the Seaboard Coast Line . The backbone of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was its main line, which ran nearly 900 miles from Richmond, Virginia to just south of Tampa, Florida . By 1952,

172-464: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

215-700: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

258-623: A regulatory climate in Virginia that was better suited to the company than that in other states, the ACL of Virginia took control of the other lines and subsequently shortened its name to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. In 1898, Petersburg Railroad and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad formally merged, and two years later the combined company took control of the ACL's routes south of Virginia and

301-517: A trio of streamliners that provided daily service between Chicago and Miami via multiple railroads over three different routes. The route via the AB&;C was the shortest of all three, a total of 1455 miles, covered in 29 1/2 hours. In 1946 the AB&C was merged into the ACL, becoming the latter company's Western Division. This article about a Class I railroad in the United States

344-539: The Florida Special (ACL's premier, winter-only train) in New York City's Pennsylvania Station . Reporting mark In North America , the mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by

387-597: The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway , though the two were never merged into the ACL and were operated independently. The ACL acquired the East Carolina Railway in 1935, running south from Tarboro to Hookerton , although the 12-mile extension to Hookerton was abandoned in 1933. The ACL's last major acquisition was the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad , which it purchased in 1927, though

430-675: The Norfolk and Carolina Railroad , which operated from Norfolk, Virginia to Tarboro, North Carolina . These mergers created an ACL system reaching from southern Virginia to South Carolina and Georgia. Other small acquisitions took place in 1901, and in 1902 the ACL took over the Plant System , which operated numerous lines within Florida and Georgia. This same year the ACL took control of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad as well as

473-823: The Pennsylvania Railroad north of Washington, D. C., then via the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad from Washington to Richmond. Tampa/St. Petersburg trains used ACL rails south of Richmond all the way to their destinations. Trains for Miami ran on the Florida East Coast Railway from Jacksonville to Miami, but after passenger service on the FEC effectively ended with a long-lasting strike in 1963, ACL transferred its Miami-bound trains to Seaboard rails at Auburndale, Florida . New York-Florida routes: Midwest-Florida routes: Other routes: In Preston Sturges' 1942 comedy The Palm Beach Story , main character Gerry Jeffers ( Claudette Colbert ) boards

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516-532: The Southeast , with a concentration of lines in Florida. Numerous named passenger trains were operated by the railroad for Florida-bound tourists, with the Atlantic Coast Line contributing significantly to Florida's economic development in the first half of the 20th century. At the end of 1925, ACL operated 4,924 miles of road, not including its flock of subsidiaries; after some merging, mileage at

559-669: The TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example, the reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses

602-478: The 1920s the railroad's main line from Richmond, Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida had been double-tracked, which benefited the railroad during the 1920s when Florida boomed. In 1928 the ACL completed a line between Perry, Florida and Drifton, near Monticello, Florida , the last link of the new " Perry Cutoff ". This created a more direct route between Chicago and Florida's west coast and bypassing Jacksonville, one which passed through Macon, Albany, and Thomasville,

645-476: The 1920s the two largest shop sites were at South Rocky Mount, North Carolina and Waycross, Georgia , each of which employed about 2,000 workers. To handle extensions into Florida, in 1926 the ACL established the Uceta shops and yard outside of Tampa, Florida at a cost of $ 2 million. By the early 1900s the railroad had largely reached its final configuration and began to focus on upgrading its physical plant. By

688-637: The 1950s, the ACL acquired some 13,000 new freight cars, to be used on high-speed trains offering reduced running times compared to earlier equipment. This allowed the railroad to remain competitive in the face of competition from the Interstate highway system . The ACL's passenger traffic consisted almost entirely of Florida-bound traffic, largely from the Northeast, but also from the Midwest via trains that were operated by multiple railroads and handled by

731-513: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

774-568: The AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of the railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example,

817-490: The AB&C moved to Atlanta Union Station . Other southbound trains left Birmingham from the AB&C's own Eleventh Street station there. The two northern branches joined at Manchester to form a single main line to the port city of Brunswick, on the Atlantic coast. A branch from the main line at Fitzgerald ran 80 miles southwesterly to Thomasville , while another branch carried trains to Waycross for connection with

860-542: The AB&C was not merged into the ACL until 1945. Upon the formal incorporation of the ACL in 1900, an assessment was made of its repair and maintenance facilities. The oldest inherited shop site was at Wilmington, North Carolina , which dated to 1840. The shops in Florence, South Carolina were a bit more modern, having been upgraded in 1883. However, the sprawling ACL system needed larger and more modern facilities to handle locomotive overhauls and freight car building. By

903-631: The ACL at their southern ends. In 1939, in response to the Seaboard's popular new streamliner, the Silver Meteor , the ACL launched its first streamlined train, the all-coach Champion . ACL invested heavily in its passenger fleet after World War II but passenger revenue fell from $ 28.5 million in 1946 to $ 14.1 million in 1959. Until its 1967 merger the railroad continued to maintain and improve its passenger service, even replacing old stations with new. All of ACL's New York - Florida trains ran on

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946-615: The Atlantic Coast Line to the Florida railroad hub of Jacksonville, 75 miles away. From January 1936, the AB&C was a link in the route of the Chicago-Miami Dixieland . which ran in the winter season only, carrying coaches and Pullmans between Atlanta and Waycross. And beginning in January 1940, the AB&C also carried the Dixie Flagler , a new, streamlined all-coach train that ran every third day, one of

989-574: The Depression. During World War II ACL's passenger traffic increased 200% and freight traffic 150%. The railroad provided a submarine-proof alternative to coastal shipping, and it also served the fast-emerging military industry in the Southeast. In 1942, Champion McDowell Davis (nicknamed "Champ") became president of the ACL after starting with the railroad in the 1890s as a messenger boy. He immediately began an improvement program that finished in

1032-682: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

1075-693: The W&;W and the W&M (renamed the Wilmington, Columbia & Augusta) began using the Atlantic Coast Line name to advertise the two lines. An investor from Baltimore, William T. Walters , gained control of these separate railroads after the Civil War , and operated them as a network of independent companies. In 1897–98, most of the South Carolina lines in Walters' system were consolidated under

1118-541: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

1161-571: The company operated over 5,000 miles of track including the main line and numerous secondary lines and branch lines. The network extended as far west as Birmingham, Alabama and as far south as Everglades City, Florida at its height. During its early years, the ACL handled mostly seasonal agricultural products, but by World War II its freight traffic had become more diverse. During the 1950s, around 44% of all freight traffic consisted of manufactured and miscellaneous items, while bulk traffic like coal and phosphates also expanded during this time. During

1204-496: The end of 1960 was 5,570 not including A&WP, CN&L, East Carolina, Georgia, Rockingham, and V&CS. In 1960, ACL reported 10,623 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 490 million passenger-miles. The earliest predecessor of the ACL was the Petersburg Railroad between Petersburg, Virginia , and a point near Weldon, North Carolina , founded in 1830. A route between Richmond, Virginia , and Petersburg

1247-417: The end of that year it operated 639 miles of road and 836 miles of track (the main trackage plus all sidings, spurs, terminal tracks, and shared tracks). The AB&C operated daily freight and passenger trains between its northern endpoints, Atlanta and Birmingham, and its southern ones, Brunswick , Waycross , and Thomasville . Passenger trains from Atlanta used Terminal Station until November 1933, when

1290-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

1333-491: The mid-1950s, including the rebuilding of several hundred miles of track, the installation of modern signaling systems and improvements to freight yards . The railroad spent at least $ 268 million in upgrading its physical plant during this period. On June 30, 1955, the railroad retired its last steam locomotive. In 1956 the railroad moved its headquarters, which had been sited at and adjacent to Wilmington, North Carolina's Union Station to Jacksonville, Florida . Jacksonville

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1376-479: The name of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company of South Carolina. In 1898, as the companies moved towards combining themselves into a single system, the lines in Virginia were combined into the new Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company of Virginia, and the lines in North Carolina underwent a similar process in 1899, becoming the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company of North Carolina. In 1899 or 1900, due to

1419-572: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

1462-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

1505-506: The potential unified system. The results showed that the merger could save considerable money through savings incurred and reduced expenditures to the amount of $ 38 million annually. On August 18, 1960, the merger was approved by shareholders of both railroads. In 1963, a merger between the two companies was approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission , however, petitions for reconsideration were filed leading to

1548-406: The railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating the home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of

1591-609: The railways and registered with the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad The Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad was organized in 1926 to replace the bankrupt Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway . The AB&C was controlled by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad , which owned a majority of the stock. In 1944 it reported 763 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 33 million passenger-miles; at

1634-762: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

1677-820: The reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns the Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

1720-626: The route followed by ACL's passenger train Southland from December 1928 to 1957 when it was rerouted to Jacksonville. During the Great Depression ACL's freight traffic declined by around 60%, but the railroad survived the 1930s without declaring bankruptcy; its success in this regard has been attributed to its leadership and careful financial practices, as well as owning the Louisville and Nashville, which remained strong through

1763-592: Was built by the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad , which was founded in 1836. In 1840 the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad , at the time known as the Wilmington and Raleigh and renamed in 1855, completed a route between Weldon and Wilmington, North Carolina . From Wilmington, the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad began operations in 1853 to Florence, South Carolina , where the Northeastern Railroad operated to Charleston, South Carolina . In 1871,

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1806-580: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

1849-452: Was selected from three candidate cities, the other two being Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina . Construction of the new office complex was finished in July 1960, with the move from Wilmington completed over the following weeks. As early as October 1958 the ACL and competitor Seaboard Air Line Railroad had discussed the possibility of a merger, initiating extensive studies on

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