Southern Railway (US)
Overview
 
The Southern Railway is a former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894. It was placed under control of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, along with the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....

 (N&W), in 1982, and was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 in 1990. (The N&W continued to exist as a subsidiary until 1997.)
The pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company
South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company
Chartered in 1827, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company ran scheduled steam service over its line from Charleston, South Carolina, to Hamburg, South Carolina. beginning in 1833. At that time it was the longest railroad in the world...

, Southern's earliest predecessor line and one of the first railroads in the United States, was chartered in December 1827 and ran the nation's first regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train – the wood-burning Best Friend of Charleston
Best Friend of Charleston
The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive. It is widely acclaimed as the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States. It also produced the first locomotive boiler explosion in the US.- History :...

– over a six-mile section out of Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, on December 25, 1830.
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