Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

ACL system map, c. 1914
Overview
Headquarters	Wilmington, North Carolina (1900–1960) Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Building, 500 Water Street, Jacksonville, Florida (1960–1967)
Reporting mark	ACL
Locale	Alabama Florida Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Virginia
Dates of operation	1900–1967
Successor	Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	5,155 miles (8,296 kilometres)[1]

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 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.^[2]

At the end of 1925, ACL operated 4,924 miles of road, not including its flock of subsidiaries; after some merging, mileage at 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.^{[citation needed]}