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Chessie System logopng
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153x31
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B&O, C&O, WM
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Delaware , District Of Columbia , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Maryland , Michigan , New York , Ohio , Ontario , Pennsylvania , Virginia , and West Virginia
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1972
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1987
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The was a
Holding Company that owned three American railroads, the
Chesapeake And Ohio Railway (C&O), the
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad (B&O), and the
Western Maryland Railway (WM), from
1972 until
1987 , when the B&O and C&O were merged into
CSX Transportation . In
1980 , Chessie System merged with
Seaboard Coast Line Industries to form the
CSX Corporation .
Headquartered in
Cleveland ,
Ohio , the Chessie System was the creation of
Cyrus S. Eaton and his protégé
Hays T. Watkins, Jr. , then president and chief executive officer of the C&O. A chief source of revenue for the Chessie System was transportation of
Coal mined in
West Virginia .
The signature symbol of the Chessie System was its "Ches-C", a large emblem incorporating the outline of the C&O's famous "
Chessie " the kitten logo. The Ches-C was emblazoned on the front and back of all Chessie System locomotives, and also served as the "C" in "Chessie System" as emblazoned on the
Locomotive 's flanks. Chessie System locomotives were painted yellow, vermilion, and blue. The Chessie System itself did not own any locomotives or other rolling stock; rather, a locomotive would be placed on the roster of one of the three component railroads. While all three companies shared a common paint scheme, actual ownership of the locomotive was denoted by a large "C&O", "B&O", or "WM" above the roster number. These markings could be found beneath the cab windows on either side of the locomotive.
GM50, is shown here as an
HO Scale model. Jason Trew Photo]]
Chessie had three famous diesel-electric locomotives in its fleet:
B&O 1977 (an
EMD GP40-2 ) was meant to celebrate the B&O's 150th anniversary (this locomotive became B&O 4100 and B&O 4163; for a short time there were two B&O locomotives numbered 1977),
B&O GM50 (another EMD GP40-2) was painted gold to celebrate
GM-EMD 's 50th anniversary as a diesel locomotive manufacturer (GM50 got repainted in
1984 and became B&O 4164), and
B&O 4444 (3rd to last GP40-2 owned by Chessie, last unit was B&O 4447) was the locomotive that pulled
Ronald Reagan 's 1984 presidential train through
Ohio .
The Chessie System operated and exhibited a former
Reading Railroad 4-8-4 steam locomotive (#2101) on a national tour as the "Chessie Steam Express," beginning in
1977 (also in celebration of the B&O's 150th anniversary). The 4-8-4 had previously been used as one of three locomotives pulling the
American Freedom Train . The train was painted in the Chessie System motif and consisted of the locomotive, two tenders, and eighteen to twenty passenger and baggage cars. The locomotive was severely damaged in a fire in March,
1979 while stored in a Chessie System
Roundhouse . It has since been cosmetically restored, and is on display at the
B&O Railroad Museum , in
Baltimore, MD .
