CSX Transportation — Corporate Overview

CSX Transportation Inc. is a U.S. Class I freight railroad headquartered in Jacksonville FL, formed in 1980 as the merger of the Chessie System (Chesapeake & Ohio + Baltimore & Ohio + Western Maryland) and the Seaboard Coast Line Industries (Seaboard Coast Line + Louisville & Nashville + Clinchfield + Georgia Railroad + Atlanta & West Point). Through subsequent restructurings, CSX also absorbed roughly half of Conrail’s former Penn Central / New York Central / Reading / Erie Lackawanna trackage in 1999. The corporate lineage traces back to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (chartered 1827) — the oldest common-carrier railroad in the United States — and to the Chesapeake & Ohio (1869), the Louisville & Nashville (1850), and the Atlantic Coast Line (1898).

Through the asbestos era, CSX and its predecessors operated large mechanical shop complexes, roundhouses, diesel-service facilities, and freight yards at Baltimore MD (Riverside / Mount Clare shops of the B&O), Cumberland MD, Huntington WV, Russell KY, Waycross GA, Jacksonville FL, Louisville KY, Cincinnati OH, Selkirk NY, and dozens of intermediate roundhouse and locomotive-service points across 23 eastern and midwestern states.

Documented ACM Footprint

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) that CSX Transportation — and its predecessor Chessie System, Seaboard Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, Louisville & Nashville, and Atlantic Coast Line carriers — exposed the railroad workforce to asbestos through the following documented pathways:

  • Steam locomotive era: allegedly asbestos block boiler lagging, asbestos-cement smokebox insulation, and asbestos rope firebox packing on B&O EM-1 2-8-8-4 Yellowstones, C&O 2-6-6-6 Alleghenies, L&N 2-8-4 Berkshires, and ACL 4-8-4 Northerns (through 1950s dieselization)
  • Diesel-electric locomotive era: allegedly asbestos-fabric traction motor winding insulation, asbestos arc chute plates in traction control cabinets, and asbestos exhaust manifold gaskets on EMD F-units, GP7/GP30/GP38/GP40, SD40-2, SD70MAC, and GE U-boat / C40-8 / AC4400 locomotives
  • Passenger car: allegedly asbestos-cement body insulation panels, asbestos-fabric heating duct lagging, and Vapor Clarkson steam generators on the George Washington, Capitol Limited, Chessie, and Silver Meteor streamliners
  • Freight car: allegedly asbestos brake shoe friction with WABCO / New York Air Brake / Symington-Gould brake components on CSX unit coal trains (Appalachian coal to tidewater at Baltimore MD and Newport News VA), grain trains, boxcars, and intermodal well cars
  • Roundhouse / shop: allegedly asbestos pipe covering on shop steam mains, asbestos-fabric arc chute plates in shop switchgear, and asbestos-block bay lagging in Baltimore MD Mount Clare, Cumberland MD, Huntington WV, Russell KY, Waycross GA, and Jacksonville FL shop complexes
  • FELA note: Railroad workers may pursue Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) claims for occupational asbestos exposure — a broader remedy than state workers’ compensation.

Workers Allegedly Exposed

  • Locomotive machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, and electricians at Baltimore MD Mount Clare, Cumberland MD, Huntington WV Huntington Shops, Russell KY, Waycross GA, and Jacksonville FL shops
  • Diesel-service and roundhouse workers servicing EMD, GE, and Alco locomotives across the CSX system
  • Railroad car repairmen (carmen) replacing asbestos brake shoes at CSX freight yards
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, conductors, brakemen, and yard switchmen on CSX, Chessie, Seaboard, B&O, C&O, and L&N trains
  • Shop electricians (IBEW) working on asbestos arc chutes in traction control cabinets and yard switchgear
  • Insulators (HFIAW) applying and stripping asbestos pipe covering on shop steam distribution

If You Worked for CSX or a Predecessor Carrier

If you or a family member worked for CSX Transportation — or any of its predecessor carriers (Chessie System, Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, Western Maryland, Seaboard Coast Line, Louisville & Nashville, Atlantic Coast Line, Clinchfield, Georgia Railroad, Conrail-East) — at any yard, shop, roundhouse, or locomotive-service facility during the asbestos era and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have legal rights under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) — a broader remedy for railroad workers than state workers’ compensation.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

Plants by State

CSX Transportation and its predecessor carriers operated shops, yards, roundhouses, and locomotive-service facilities across multiple U.S. states. Detailed premises information is available on the following state jobsite pages: