The First Coast Railroad is a

class III railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

operating in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, owned by

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

. The name is derived from its area of operations around the

First Coast Florida's First Coast, or simply the First Coast, is a region of the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida. The First Coast refers to the same general area as the directional region of Northeast Florida. It roughly ...

of Florida. The FCRD was founded in April 2005 to lease 32 miles of a former

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

from

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. It stretches east from Yulee to

Fernandina Beach, Florida Fernandina Beach is a city in northeastern Florida and the county seat of Nassau County, Florida, Nassau County, Florida, United States. It is the northernmost city on Florida's Atlantic coast, situated on Amelia Island, and is one of the princi ...

and north from Yulee to

Seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

, with a connection at Yulee to CSX. The north–south line, formerly the Seaboard Air Line main line before it was abandoned by the combined

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

in favor of the ex-

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 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 L ...

main line to the west, connects to the St. Marys Railroad at Kingsland. The line is abandoned north of Seals.

History

The line from Yulee north into southern Georgia was built in 1894 by the Florida Northern Railroad. It was an extension of the Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad north to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

to connect with the

South Bound Railroad The South Bound Railroad was a Southeastern railroad that operated in South Carolina and Georgia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. History The South Bound Railroad was chartered by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1882 and b ...

. The line from Yulee to Fernandina Beach was completed in 1861 by the

Florida Railroad The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and, where still in use, is operated by CSX Transport ...

which connected Fernandina Beach with

Cedar Key Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 702 at the 2010 census. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th ...

. The Florida Railroad, Florida Northern Railroad, Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad, and the South Bound Railroad were all eventually absorbed by the

Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jacks ...

by 1893. In 1900, the Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad became part of the

, and the line into Georgia became Seaboard's main line. Seaboard Air Line became the

after merging with the Atlantic Coast Line in 1967. The former Seaboard Air Line mainline was designated as the S Line with this specific segment known as the Everett Subdivision. The route to Fernandina Beach was designated the Fernandina Subdivision. The Seaboard Coast Line became the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. T ...

in the 1980s. With the former Atlantic Coast Line main line ( A Line) being used as the through route in the combined network, CSX abandoned the S Line between

Riceboro, Georgia Riceboro is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. The population was 809 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. History The community was named for the early rice industry in the ...

(just southwest of Savannah) and Bladen, Georgia in 1986 and redesignated the remaining track as the

Kingsland Subdivision The Kingsland Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Northeast Florida. The line begins in Jacksonville at a junction with the A Line near Moncrief Yard. From there, it heads east and then turns north near Panama Park. Fro ...

(a designation which remains on the CSX line south of Yulee). Track between Bladen and Seals was removed in 1990. CSX leased the lines north of Yulee to the First Coast Railroad in 2005. The remaining Seaboard track north of Riceboro is operated by the

Riceboro Southern Railway The Riceboro Southern Railway began operations in 2004 operating on about 33 miles of track, some of which is leased from CSX Transportation. The track on which it operates is part of the ex-Seaboard Air Line route from Savannah, Georgia t ...

, another subsidiary of

References

External Links

First Coast Railroad official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Coast Railroad Florida railroads Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Genesee & Wyoming Spin-offs of CSX Transportation Companies operating former Seaboard Air Line Railroad lines