The Tennessee state legislature chartered the Edgefield & Kentucky Railroad on Feb. 13, 1852, to build a line between Edgefield Junction near Nashville, Tennessee, and the Tennessee-Kentucky state line (Guthrie, Kentucky). The railroad completed its line toward the end of 1859. It consolidated with the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad, chartered in 1867, in 1871. In 1879, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad purchased the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville.
The genesis for the Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad dates to the late 1860s and 1870s. The railroad formally emerged after merging three lines: the Mobile, Clarksville & Evansville Railroad, the Princeton & Ohio River Railroad and another company named the Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad. The railroad was unable to raise the capital needed to build much of a railroad and completed only about 30 miles of narrow gauge line between Clarksville, Tennessee, and Gracey, Kentucky, by 1886, when the Louisville & Nashville purchased the line. The Louisville & Nashville subsequently broadened the railroad to standard gauge and abandoned the route in May 1933.
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) was incorporated in 1850 and built a rail line between Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee. Over time, it built or purchased various branches. In 1902, financier J.P. Morgan delivered control of the Louisville & Nashville to its rival, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. However, the Louisville & Nashville continued to operate independently. In 1971, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's successor, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, purchased the remainder of the Louisville & Nashville shares it did not own, making the company a subsidiary. By 1982, the Seaboard Coast Line absorbed the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. In 1986, the Seaboard System merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to form the Chessie System. The combined company became CSX Transportation.
On February 4, 1852, the state of Tennessee chartered the Nashville & Memphis Railroad to build a line between Memphis and Paris, Tennessee, roughly 60 miles west of Clarksville and 130 miles east of Memphis. On Dec. 16, 1853, the Tennessee Legislature passed an act allowing the railroad to change its name to the Memphis & Louisville Railroad. On Jan. 24, 1854, the railroad's board of directors decided to change its name once again, this time to the Memphis & Ohio. The line would ultimately connect with the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville at Paris. The Louisville & Nashville seized an opportunity to buy the line on July 1, 1867, after the Memphis & Ohio Railroad defaulted on its interest payments.
The state of Tennessee chartered the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad to build a line between Paris, Tennessee, and the Tennessee-Kentucky state line. The railroad would connect with the Memphis & Ohio in Paris, Tennessee, and the Louisville & Nashville's Memphis Branch at Guthrie, Kentucky, to create a Louisville-to-Memphis line. The railroad began operations in 1859 and completed its line in November 1861. The Louisville & Nashville supported the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville from its inception, and the Louisville & Nashville purchased the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville in 1871.
The Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad was chartered on Dec. 11, 1845, to build a five-foot gauge line between its two namesake cities and was Tennessee’s first railroad. Its first train, pulled by a locomotive named Tennessee, operated in April 1851 between Nashville and Antioch. After the Civil War, the railroad acquired other companies, and in 1873, the company amended its name to the larger sounding Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Despite its new name, the railroad did not St. Louis, and in 1880, the rival Louisville & Nashville Railroad obtained a controlling interest in the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. However, the two lines remained independent until they merged in 1957.
The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway began as the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 11, 1845. Built to five-foot gauge, the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis was the first railway to operate in Tennessee. In 1880, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad took a controlling interest through a hostile stock takeover. The railroads operated separately until merging in 1957.
The Paducah, Tennessee & Alabama was created following a July 1889 consolidation of several earlier companies. However, by the end of October 1893, a federal judge appointed a receiver for the road following a lawsuit filed by creditors in St. Louis. The move made it a prime candidate for a takeover. In October 1895, J.W. Phillips of St. Louis purchased the company for $1 million. He also secured the Tennessee Midland with the intent of merging the lines into a single company. It was soon revealed the Louisville & Nashville was behind the acquisition. The owner resold the companies to the Louisville & Nashville on December 14, 1895.
The state of Georgia chartered the Western & Atlantic Railroad on December 21, 1836, and the state-owned line eventually built a railroad between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The railroad, which formally opened on May 9, 1850, was instrumental for the founding and location of Atlanta, helping it grow from railroad crossroads to a logistics hub. The Western & Atlantic was an integral road during the Civil War. On April 12, 1862, Union spies stole a locomotive with the intent of destroying the line. The state leased the line to a private company for the first time in 1870. CSX Transportation currently leases the line from the state of Georgia.