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The Southern Railway Building in Washington, D.C., formerly located at Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Street NW in the early 1900s An 1895 system map A 1921 system map. The pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, Southern's earliest predecessor line and one of the first railroads in the United States, was chartered on December 19, 1827, and ran the nation's first regularly ...
The Southern network expanded from 11,000 miles (17,700 km) in 1870 to 29,000 miles (46,700 km) in 1890. The lines were owned and directed overwhelmingly by Northerners. Railroads helped create a mechanically skilled group of craftsmen and broke the isolation of much of the region.
Additionally, Southern railroads west of the Mississippi were isolated, disconnected, and varied widely in gauge. [5] In contrast, many Northern railroads formed complex networks, with multiple lines serving the same cities and most using the same gauge, facilitating easier transfers.
Norfolk Southern's predecessor railroads date to the early 19th century. The South Carolina Canal & Rail Road was the SOU's earliest predecessor line. Chartered in 1827, the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company became the first to offer regularly scheduled passenger train service with the inaugural run of the Best Friend of Charleston in 1830. [18]
The Panic of 1873 ended the expansion everywhere in the United States, leaving many Southern lines bankrupt or barely able to pay the interest on their bonds. The Southern network still expanded from 11,000 miles (18,000 km) in 1870 to 29,000 miles (47,000 km) in 1890.
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the Union Pacific Corporation and merged with their Union Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in San Francisco, Tucson, and Houston. In the 1970s, it also founded a telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone.
The Kansas City Terminal Construction Company completed a 76.40-mile Shreveport to Many line on October 26, 1896, an 85.80-mile Many to De Quincy line on June 30, 1897, and the 19.16-mile De Quincy to the Louisiana-Texas state line on September 11, 1897, where the southern terminus was with the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company.
The "Southern" line: Monroe (on Lake Erie) to New Buffalo. [8] The Central line would connect with the D&P in Detroit, while the Southern line would connect with the E&K near Adrian. The government, under the leadership of Governor Stevens T. Mason, would finance the whole project through a US$5 million loan.