Editing Railroad history (section)

== Southern Railway (and predecessors) ==

==== Air Line Railroad Company of South Carolina ====

* Federal Decisions, Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court, 1885, page 96: [https://books.google.com/books?id=SO07AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=%22air+line+railroad%22+%22south+carolina%22+1856&source=bl&ots=V8ucMEA7Vv&sig=4eETocV6TMnMf6IiNX869F0hNFk&hl=en&ei=kWEZTYLcOYSclgfzsrzNDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22air%20line%20railroad%22%20%22south%20carolina%22%201856&f=false/]
* The Georgia legislature on March 5, 1856 authorized the Georgia Air Line Railroad Company to build a railroad from Atlanta to the SC state line in the direction of the Anderson, SC courthouse.
* The Air Line Railroad was created by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly December 20, 1856, to connect the Georgia line to the Anderson, SC courthouse and then continue on to "some point of connection with the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad, in the direction of Charlotte, North Carolina."
* [Commentary: it appears that the Civil War halted progress on both. We've heard that no track was laid by either company.]
* The North Carolina legislature on August 3, 1868 authorized the Air Line Company in South Carolina to extend up to Charlotte.
* Also in 1868, simultaneously the Georgia and South Carolina legislatures worked to authorize each railroad to merge with other railroads; Georgia approved on September 7, and South Carolina approved on September 18.
* On June 20, 1870, the two railroads officially merged into one corporation, the '''Atlanta & Richmond Air Line Railway Company'''.
* The controlling party in the merger was the Richmond and Danville Railroad, according to: Cox, Jim. Rails across Dixie: A History of Passenger Trains in the American South. Mcfarland, 2016.

==== Atlanta & Richmond Air-Line Railway ====

* https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_atlanta_richmond_air_line.html
** Acronym: A&RAL
** Chartered 1870, line operational 1873, service ended 1874 (see below)
** Started: Atlanta; ended: Richmond
** The Atlanta & Richmond Air Line Railway was organized in North Carolina in 1870, combining the Georgia Air Line Railroad Company and the Air Line Railroad Company of South Carolina [https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_air_line_of_sc.html]. It was controlled by the '''Richmond and Danville Railroad.''' The R&D planned to build a line from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA but could not do so under its own name due to limitations in its charter.
*** + 1870 the merger of the Air Line Railroad of South Carolina and the Georgia Air Line Railroad (GA company).
** The first 53 miles out of Atlanta were finished by 1871. In 1872, the R&D extended its credit to guarantee the last stages of construction.
** By April 9, 1872, 12 miles were operational between Charlotte and the Catawba River.
** The first passenger train went from Charlotte to Spartanburg on March 31, 1873.
** The entire line was completed in September of 1873.
** '''The first recorded trip of a train across Greer tracks: late Sunday night, September 28, 1873.'''
** The A&R ran ads for the “Piedmont Route” from Charlotte to New Orleans in the Charlotte Observer starting Dec. 11, 1873. It advertised 6 hours quicker to Atlanta than any other route.
** The company entered receivership in November of 1874 and was sold under foreclosure in December of 1876. The new bondholders reorganized the line as the '''Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway''' [https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_atlanta_charlotte_air_line.html] in February of 1877.
*** + 1877 reorganized as Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line Railway. Still owned by Richmond & Danville Railroad.
*** *1874 bankrupt.

==== Atlanta & Charlotte Air-Line Railway ====

* The A&R was reorganized in 1877 as the Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line Railway.
* On the 26th of March, 1881, the road was leased to the Richmond & Danville Railroad Company for 99 years from April 1, 1881, at a rental of $462,500 annually.
* On June 18, 1894, the R&D was sold in foreclosure; all of its properties, including the A&C, were conveyed to the new Southern Railway.

==== Richmond and Danville Railroad ====

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_and_Danville_Railroad
** “Greer’s” and “Greers” appears on multiple R&D maps in the late 1800s. See: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3706p.rr005450/
** 60% of stock purchased by the Southern Railway Security Company in 1871.
** In 1880, control of the R&D was acquired by William P. Clyde and interests that controlled the Richmond, York River and Chesapeake Rail Road Company.
** In or about 1886, the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company acquired a majority of R&D Company stock.
** '''Piedmont Air-Line''' was a set of passenger routes in the Richmond and Danville Railroad. According to a Sept. 1885 timetable in the Stanford archive, these routes passed through but did not stop in Greer.
** In '''1882''', the R&D, along with the North Carolina Railroad, Northwestern North Carolina Railroad, Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad, '''Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line Railway''' and the Columbia and Greenville Railroad lines were being operated as the '''Piedmont Air-Line System''' advertised as the shortest line between New York, New Orleans and Texas.

==== Richmond & Danville  >>>  Southern Railway System (1894-1982) ====
On June 18, 1894, the R&D was sold in foreclosure. Its property was surrendered to Southern Railway Company for operation on July 1, 1894, even though the deeds of conveyance were not completed and filed until later. Reorganized by J.P. Morgan and his New York banking firm of Drexel, Morgan and Company, the R&D was merged with five other railroads to form the new Southern Railway.

The R&D property was formally conveyed to Southern Railway Company by deeds dated January 9, 1896, and August 30, 1897. The Southern Railway Company, incorporated in Virginia on the same date, June 18, 1894, controlled over 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of line at its inception. Samuel Spencer became Southern's first president.

Norfolk Southern (1982-present)

Norfolk Southern Corporation, a holding corporation, acquired control of Norfolk and Western Railway Company and Southern Railway Company and their affiliates and subsidiaries on June 1, 1982, after approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Effective December 31, 1990, Southern Railway Company changed its name to Norfolk Southern Railway Company.