The Charleston and Savannah Railway was a 19th-century American railroad serving the coastal states of South Carolina and Georgia and running through part of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Its name varied slightly over time:
- Charleston and Savannah Railroad (1854–1866)
- Savannah and Charleston Railroad (1866–1880)
- Charleston and Savannah Railway (1880–1901)
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Successor | Plant System Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Seaboard Coast Line Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) |
History
editThe system was originally chartered in 1854 as the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. The C&S RR established and operated a 120-mile (190 km) 5 ft (1,524 mm)[1] gauge rail line from Charleston, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, connecting two of the most important port cities in the antebellum southeastern United States. South Carolina state senator Thomas Drayton was the president of the railroad from its earliest planning stages in 1853 until 1856.
During the Civil War, control of the railroad was vital to the protection of Savannah and keeping nearby Confederate troops supplied with food and materiel. In December 1864, during his March to the Sea, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman sent part of his Union forces forward to cut the line, which would force Confederate general William Hardee to retreat and abandon Savannah. The mission failed, but sections of the railroad would be severely damaged during Sherman's subsequent 1865 Carolinas Campaign.[2]
Following the war, the railroad was reorganized in 1866 as the Savannah and Charleston Railroad but did not complete repairs and reopen for traffic as a 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge line until 1869-70. In 1873 it defaulted on a loan and ended up in bankruptcy. It was then sold to Henry B. Plant (June, 1880s), and the railroad's name was changed to the Charleston and Savannah Railway, becoming part of the Plant System of railroads.[3]
In 1877, the Ashley River Railroad (another Plant System Railroad) was built. The Ashley River Railroad connected to the Charleston and Savannah Railway at Johns Island and ran across the Ashley River to connect with the Northeastern Railroad in North Charleston. The Charleston and Savannah Railway previously connected to other railroads via a ferry across the river.
In the 1880s, the Plant System built the Yonges Island Branch which branched off the main line at Ravenel. This now-abandoned branch ran through Hollywood and Meggett.[4]
Later, the Plant System was sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The Charleston and Savannah Railway and the Ashley River Railroad would become part of the Atlantic Coast Line's main line (which extended in its entirety from Richmond, Virginia to Tampa, Florida). The Hardeville to Savannah track was also used by the Southern Railway to connect a Columbia-Hardeville section of track to Florida.
The original line east of Johns Island would become known as the Croghans Branch after the Ashley River Railroad began service. The Croghans Branch has since been abandoned and its right of way is now the West Ashley Greenway.[5][6]
In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with its rival, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The merged company was named the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.[7] 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. The line is still in service from Johns Island to Savannah and it is part of CSX's A Line (Charleston Subdivision).
Historic stations
edit| State | Milepost[8][9] | City/Location | Station[10] | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC | AM 408.0 | Charleston | Croghans | near Albemarle Point |
| AM 406.4 | St. Andrews | |||
| AM 404.3 | Wappoo | |||
| AM 403.9 | DuPont | junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Charleston Subdivision | ||
| Melvin | ||||
| AM 398.7 A 398.7 |
Johns Island | Johns Island | junction with Ashley River Railroad (ACL) | |
| A 402.0 | Rantowles | |||
| A 403.2 | Berry Hill | |||
| A 406.7 | Ravenel | Ravenel | junction with Yonges Island Branch | |
| A 409.1 | New Road | |||
| A 412.9 | Adam's Run | Adam's Run | ||
| A 415.8 | Parkers Ferry | Parkers Ferry | ||
| A 418.1 | Pon Pon | |||
| A 419.2 | Jacksonboro | Jacksonboro | ||
| Edash | ||||
| A 424.9 | Ashepoo | |||
| A 428.7 | Green Pond | Green Pond | junction with Green Pond, Walterboro and Branchville Railroad | |
| A 432.3 | White Hall | |||
| Blakes | ||||
| A 440.8 | Salkehatchie | Salkehatchie | ||
| A 443.0 | Yemassee | Yemassee | Amtrak Silver Meteor, Palmetto parts of the station rebuilt in 1955 junction with Charleston and Western Carolina Railway (ACL) | |
| A 444.2 | Pocotaligo | Pocotaligo | ||
| A 446.5 | Kress | |||
| A 449.6 | Gilmania | |||
| A 451.4 | Coosawhatchie | Coosawhatchie | ||
| A 454.5 | Bashan | |||
| A 459.3 | Ridgeland | Ridgeland | ||
| Okeetee | ||||
| Perrys | ||||
| Ferebee | ||||
| A 473.9 | Hardeeville | Hardeeville | ||
| Purysburg | Purysburg | |||
| A 478.5 | Sand Island | |||
| GA | A 483.9 | Port Wentworth | Monteith | |
| A 490.4 | Savannah | Central Junction | junction with:
| |
| A 490.9 | Savannah | continues as Savannah, Florida and Western Railway (ACL) junction with Georgia and Alabama Railway (SAL) |
| Milepost | City/Location | Station[10] | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMB 406.7 | Ravenel | Ravenel | junction with Main Line |
| AMB 408.2 | Meggett | Meggett | junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Charleston Subdivision |
| AMB 411.2 | Yonges Island |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Confederate Railroads - Charleston & Savannah
- ^ The December 6-9th Demonstrations for the Charleston and Savannah Railroad
- ^ "Rail Georgia". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "Ravenel to Yonges Island, SC". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ^ "The Croghans Branch". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ^ "The history of the West Ashley Greenway". CHStoday. 2020-05-25. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- ^ Greenspun.com
- ^ Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Southern Division Timetable (1949)
- ^ Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence Division Timetable (1971)
- ^ a b "South Carolina Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists (South Carolina). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
External links
edit- Tenth Annual Report to the stockholders
- Records of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad Archived 2010-06-05 at the Wayback Machine, in Special Collections at the College of Charleston
Further reading
edit- Stone, H. David, Vital Rails: The Charleston & Savannah Railroad and the Civil War in Coastal South Carolina, University of South Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-57003-716-0.