CSX Launches 20th Heritage Unit, Awards Alabama Property ‘Select Site’ Status (UPDATED 11/1)
CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs on LinkedIn revealed CSX ES44AH No. 1902—a tribute to Clinchfield Railroad—fresh out of the Class I’s paint shop in Waycross, Ga.
“The Clinchfield Railroad was set up to serve the coal mines in eastern Kentucky, Western Virginia and Eastern Tennessee,” Hinrichs reported. “It was the last Class I railroad built in the Eastern United States and eventually became part of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad before becoming part of CSX.”
The line is now part of CSX’s Blue Ridge Subdivision in Eastern Tennessee, “which was hit so hard by Hurricane Helene last month,” Hinrichs said. A $200 million-plus track and bridge rebuild project is now under way there.
According to Hinrichs, one of the Clinchfield Railroad’s “most important legacies” was the “Santa Claus Special that debuted in 1943 and continues as the CSX Santa Train to this day.” The new heritage locomotive’s first run will be with CSX’s 2024 Santa Train, which will operate in Appalachia on Nov. 23.
Like the first unit painted in a heritage scheme, CSX ES44AH No. 1827 that honors the Baltimore & Ohio, the livery for No. 1902 features a hybrid design, starting on the cab with the Class I’s colors and transitioning to Clinchfield’s logo and paint scheme (watch video below for more details).
CSX previously unveiled units paying tribute to the Atlantic Coast Line; L&N; Chesapeake & Ohio; Conrail; Chessie System; Seaboard System; Monon Railroad; New York Central; Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad; Family Lines System; Western Maryland Railroad; Pere Marquette; Seaboard Coast Line; Pittsburgh & Lake Erie; Georgia Railroad; Seaboard Air Line; Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad; and Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
The Clinchfield locomotive will join the other commemorative units in revenue service on CSX’s 20,000-mile rail network that spans 23 states.
“Another great job by our ONE CSX team in Waycross, Georgia,” Hinrichs said via LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, the 500-plus-acre RailPort Logistics Mobile (see above) has been designated as a Platinum CSX Select Site. It’s the second site this month to receive that designation; CSX announced on Oct. 24 that Rickenbacker South Industrial Rail Park in Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Ohio also earned it.
The Class I describes its Select Sites as “development-ready properties along the CSX network where standard land use considerations and comprehensive due diligence items have been previously addressed.” These properties, it said, “can meet the needs of a wide variety of manufacturers, significantly reducing the time required to construct industrial facilities and ultimately bringing products to market.” To receive the Platinum CSX Select Site designation, the location must meet “a rigorous list of criteria, including infrastructure and utility availability, environmental reviews, appropriate zoning and entitlement, air quality permitting, rail serviceability, proximity to highways or interstates, and other attributes,” according to the railroad. The RailPort Logistics Mobile site is the fourth site in Alabama to receive the Platinum CSX Select Site designation since CSX launched the Select Sites program in 2012.
RailPort Logistics Mobile is located near the Port of Mobile. It not only offers access to rail, but also to two separate interchanges on Interstate 10. According to CSX, in the initial phase of the site’s development, Scannell Properties will focus on approximately 390 acres. Some 149 acres are to be set aside for conservation and the remainder is planned for nine industrial buildings, at least four of which will have rail service by CSX. Additionally, Scannell Properties plans to invest approximately $15 million for transportation infrastructure upgrades that will also benefit the neighboring Todd Acres Industrial Park, the railroad reported.
“Alabama and the Gulf Coast are critical to our day-to-day operations as we connect communities across our vast rail network to the global marketplace,” said Christina Bottomley, Vice President of Business Development and Real Estate at CSX. “The Select Site in Mobile will help drive economic growth locally, create jobs, and offer innovative logistics solutions to the communities in which we live and work.”
“Austin Consulting has been impressed with the responses we received during this site vetting process,” said Jonathan Gemmen, Senior Director Austin Consulting, the firm that works with CSX to screen candidate sites and assist communities with the application and certification process. “Policies in place at the city and county level have created a true business-friendly environment. Further, while many regions across the country have limited capacity for one or more utilities, Mobile can meet the utility demands of almost all industry sectors.”
