The merger of the Chessie System (Chessie) and Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) into CSX Corporation was a strict, 50-50 marriage between the two railroad systems. Hays Watkins, chairman of the Chessie, and Prime Osborn, chairman of SCL, had a system of making decisions where both railroads were seen as equals. This marriage was once described by Watkins as “two porcupines making love…that had to be done slowly” (Lappen, Alyssa A. and Jefferson Grigsby, ed., October 27, 1980). Probably one of the first decisions made, perhaps before September 6, 1978, was the name of the new holding company that would come into being just for the purpose of merging their railroads systems (Milt Dolinger January 2000).
Watkins and Osborn wanted a name that reflected their merger of equals.
The name “CSX” was intended to be a temporary name. As many people know, “C” means Chessie System. “S” stands for Seaboard Coast Line. However, the “X” would take on a meaning much later. Watkins referred to “CSX” as a “temporary code name” that was created for especially the incorporation (Watkins 2001, 150) . “CSX” was used when CSX Corporation was incorporated on November 14, 1978 in Virginia (PR Newswire, October 1, 1980; Mergent, Fort Mill, 2024).
So, the name “CSX” was used in the Interstate Commerce Commission application for the Chessie-Seaboard merger that was filed on January 18, 1979. The name “CSX” was used on February 13, 1979, when the shareholders of both the Chessie System and SCL voted for their railroad systems to merge with the newly created CSX Corporation (see 363 ICC 521 (1980); Watkins 2001, 150; Robert Shaffer, February 14, 1979).
BUT the name “CSX” was not supposed to go any farther beyond the merger!
Even during the ICC hearings, there was still a search for another name to replace “CSX.” Still, any new name had to have “CS” as the first two letters to symbolize the two equal railroad systems. “CSX” would also represent the new holding company through the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) merger hearings and documents (see 363 ICC 521 (1980)). There were plans to hold a naming contest where a permanent name would be selected from employee suggestions, and a prize would go to a winner (Watkins 2001; Milt Dolinger, May 2002).
At one point, Watkins and Osborn each selected an employee from their financial departments to ponder over a new name. These men of numbers worked together with various letters as a replacement for “X.” There were also CSCL Corp, C/SCL, CCL and CSM, but appeared to not be in keeping with the equal, 50-50 rule. So, the men of math defined “X” as the multiplication symbol meaning “together we are so much more” (Milt Dolinger, May 2002). “So much more” meant the other companies of CSX Corporation as a holding company, but could also mean all the predecessor railroads contained in the railroad systems of Chessie and Seaboard.
“So much more” is truly so much more!
The name CSX is a name of equals. When we see the name CSX should also be reminded of the efforts both Osborn and Watkins put into the 50-50, fair and square decision process. We should understand that the real story in the creation of CSX is one of two equal railroad systems coming together, not one as better than the other. This would be especially true, since after the merger, both systems would keep their separate identities about 6 years in the slow love making of two porcupines resulting in the inevitable birth of CSX Transportation.
SEAtkinson, August 6, 2024.
References
“Article 2 — no Title.” Barron’s National Business and Financial Weekly, vol. 59, no. 8, 1979, pp. 28. http://www.proquest.com. Accessed August 1, 2024.
Dolinger, Milt. “Close-Up: The Chessie-Seaboard Merger.” Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Magazine.” January 2000. http://www.proquest.com. Accessed August 1, 2024.
Dolinger, Milt. “How CSX Got its Name: “what’s in a Name?” Shakespeare Asked in Romeo and Juliet.” Trains, vol. 62, no. 5, 05, 2002, pp. 68-71. http://www.proquest.com. Accessed August 1, 2024.
“Chessie-Seaboard Rail Merger Backed”. Facts on File World News Digest, March 23, 1979. advance-lexis.com. Accessed August 4, 2024.
Lappen, Alyssa A. and Jefferson Grigsby, ed. October 27, 1980. “Slowly — but not too slowly.” Forbes. http://www.proquest.com. Accessed August 1, 2024.
PR Newswire, October 1, 1980, advance-lexis-com. Accessed August 1, 2024.
Shaffer, Robert L. February 14th, 1979. “Stockholders Okay Merger Creating the Largest Railroad Network in Nation.” St. Petersburg Times. Google Books. Accessed August 4th, 2024.
United States. Interstate Commerce Committee. “CSX Corporation – Control – Chessie System, INC., and Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc. “, 363 I.C.C. 521, 1980 ICC LEXIS 46 (September 23, 1980). advance-lexis-com. Accessed August 5, 2024
Watkins, Hays T. Just Call Me Hays. Recollections, Reactions and Reflections on 42 Years of Railroading. 2001.
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