Editing CSX Transportation (section)

===Predecessors===
{{See also|List of CSX Transportation predecessor railroads}}CSX is the result of a number of mergers among railroads operating in the eastern United States, the earliest among them the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (B&O) which formed in the 1820s.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=14}} Many of the competing railroads along the east coast began merging from the 1950s onward as part of a broader trend of consolidation. An announcement from the [[New York Central Railroad|New York Central]] (NYC) and [[Pennsylvania Railroad|Pennsylvania]] (PRR) railroads in November 1957 that they were considering combining set off discussions between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] (C&O) on a merger.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|pp=43-45}} Ultimately, the financially stronger C&O took control of the B&O in December 1962, though the two railroads kept their separate identities. The NYC and PRR ultimately formed [[Penn Central Transportation Company]] in 1968, which by 1970 was bankrupt.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=48}}

The combined C&O/B&O purchased stock in the [[Western Maryland Railway]] until it was able to take full control in February 1967, bringing a third railroad into the combined entity, which in 1973 became formally known as the [[Chessie System]] after the C&O's historic cat mascot Chessie.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|pp=51-52}}

While the railroads in [[Appalachia]] were merging, southern railroads (and historical competitors) [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]] and [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad]] decided to pursue a merger in 1960, which was authorized by the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] in late 1963 and finally completed in 1967, forming the [[Seaboard Coast Line Railroad]].{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|pp=54-55}} The combined company absorbed the [[Piedmont and Northern Railway]] in 1969.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=58}}

In the Midwest, the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] (L&N) went on an acquisition spree, splitting the [[Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad]] (C&EI) with the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] in 1969. This was followed in 1971 with the acquisition of the [[Monon Railroad]], which had complained bitterly about the C&EI split. The L&N also purchased a portion of the [[Tennessee Central Railway]] in 1969.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|pp=58-60}} While still independent, the L&N had long standing links to the Atlantic Coast Line, and other railroads in the region began to worry about a combined L&N/SCL system.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=55}}

In 1969, the Seaboard Coast Line created [[Seaboard Coast Line Industries]] as a holding company. The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad had already held some of L&N's stock, but the new holding company began buying up as much as it could find and held nearly total control of shares by 1971. With this also came control of the [[Clinchfield Railroad]] and [[Georgia Railroad and Banking Company|Georgia Railroad]], both of which were nominally jointly owned by SCL and L&N. The resulting railroad conglomerate began operating under the name "Family Lines".{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|pp=60, 62}}

Despite this wave of mergers, one more was yet to come - the combination of Chessie System and the Family Lines. To this end, the [[CSX Corporation]] was organized on November 14, 1978, as a future vehicle for such a merger. Chessie and SCL Industries formally applied for ICC approval of their merger plans in January 1979, causing a rapid reaction from the region's other railroads. By April, the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]] and [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] unveiled their own plans for a merger. The Southern was opposed to the planned CSX merger, but soon came to terms with Chessie and SCL and dropped its objections.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=62}} On November 1, 1980, following ICC approval, CSX Corporation officially came into being as the successor of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries. In 1982, N&W and the Southern completed their merger and formed [[Norfolk Southern Railway]], creating a competitor to CSX.{{Sfn|Solomon|2005|p=62}}