Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL)

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (reporting marks "SAL") was a Class I railroad operating in the Southeastern United States. Despite its name, "Air Line" was a nineteenth-century term for a direct, straight-line route between points and had nothing to do with aviation. The Seaboard linked the Virginia tidewater region with the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, competing directly with the parallel Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) for passenger and freight traffic along the South Atlantic corridor.

History

• 1915 - SAL acquired the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad, extending its reach on Florida's Gulf coast.
• 1967 - SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL).

Operations

The Seaboard was known for its Florida passenger trains, carrying winter travelers from the Northeast to resorts and cities along its routes. Its freight business centered on agricultural products, phosphate, citrus, and general merchandise moving to and from the Southeast.

Modern Status

The 1967 merger with its longtime rival ended the Seaboard Air Line as an independent company. The resulting Seaboard Coast Line became a building block of the later CSX Transportation system, making SAL one of the historical predecessor roads in the modern CSX family lineage.