The Riceboro Southern Railway began operations in 2004 operating on about 33 miles of track, some of which is leased from

CSX Transportation 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. ...

. The track on which it operates is part of the ex-

Seaboard Air Line 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 ...

route from

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 ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. It runs generally from Ogeechee, Georgia, where the line splits from the CSX

Savannah Subdivision The Savannah Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Through the middle of Savannah, the Savannah Subdivision splits into an east route and a west route. The East Route runs fr ...

, which is the former

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 ...

's Savannah-Jacksonville route, and Riceboro. It does not have any of its own

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s; it uses Georgia Central power.

Ownership

The Riceboro Southern is owned and operated by its parent, the

Georgia Central Railway The Georgia Central Railway operates about of former Seaboard Coast Line track from Macon, Georgia through Dublin, Georgia and Vidalia, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. It also operates about of trackage between Savannah and Riceboro, Georgia, swi ...

, LP, which is owned by Rail Link, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

Business

The sole purpose of the shortline is serving the Interstate Paper Company and SNF Chemtall, a chemical manufacturer, both located in Riceboro, and taking the

freight car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...

s to Savannah, where they interchange with CSX.

History

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

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 ...

in Savannah. The Florida Northern Railroad was eventually absorbed by the

Florida Central and 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 and Peninsular Railroad became part of the

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 ...

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

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 ...

after merging with the Atlantic Coast Line in 1967. The merged company 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. CSX abandoned the S Line between Riceboro and

Seals, Georgia Seals is an unincorporated location in Camden County in the state of Georgia, United States. Its position is at at an elevation of 21 feet. It is located at the point where the Old Jefferson Highway meets the railway line, just east of Flo ...

gradually from 1985 to 1986. CSX leased the line to Riceboro Southern Railway in 2004. The remaining track south of Seals is currently operated by the

First Coast Railroad The First Coast Railroad is a class III railroad operating in Florida and Georgia, owned by Genesee & Wyoming. The name is derived from its area of operations around the First Coast of Florida. The FCRD was founded in April 2005 to lease 32 miles ...

, another subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

References

External links

Riceboro Southern Railway (Official site)
Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Genesee & Wyoming Spin-offs of CSX Transportation {{GeorgiaUS-transport-stub