Early years

Henry B. Plant, whose railroad system owned and built much of the track that is now the Jesup Subdivision

The Jesup Subdivision was built incrementally in the late 1800s. From Jesup to Waycross, it was originally a segment of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and was built in 1859 just before the start of the American Civil War. One of the officers of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad was Dr. James Proctor Screven, for whom the city of Screven, Georgia along the line is named.^[3]

The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad went bankrupt in 1877 and was bought in 1879 by Henry B. Plant and became incorporated into his Plant System. It would be the main line of Plant's Savannah, Florida and Western Railway.^[4]

In 1880, Plant chartered the Waycross and Florida Railroad to build the line from Waycross south to Folkston, which continued to Florida. This line, informally known as the "Waycross Short Line" was completed by 1881.^[5]

The line through Waycross was the main route for trains travelling from the northeast to Florida until the construction of the Plant System's Folkston Cutoff (which is the present-day Nahunta Subdivision).^[6]

Atlantic Coast Line ownership

Jesup—Folkston (via Waycross) Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Jesup Subdivision
Status	Still operating under CSX
Owner	Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (1902–1967) Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (1967–1986) CSX Transportation (1986-present)
Locale	Southeast Georgia
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No
Signalling	Centralized traffic control
Route map

After the death of Henry Plant in 1899, the Plant System was bought by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL).^[7] The ACL would designate the line as their Jesup—Folkston (via Waycross) Line. Employee timetables specified that the route went through Waycross to differentiate it from the ACL's main line, which used the Folkston Cutoff and passed through both Jesup and Folkston.^[8]

By 1949, the line was a busy route for the Atlantic Coast Line. Two local passenger trains from Savannah east to Montgomery, Alabama ran the line daily between Jesup and Waycross. From Waycross to Folkston, passenger trains from the Midwest to Florida ran the line including the City of Miami, Dixie Flyer, Dixie Flagler, Flamingo, Seminole, and South Wind. Numerous local and through freight trains also ran the line daily.^[8]

Later years

The Atlantic Coast Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) in 1967 after merging with their rival, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL). The Seaboard Coast Line adopted the Seaboard Air Line's method of naming their lines as subdivisions. As a result, the line was renamed by the company to the Jesup Subdivision as it is today.^[9] The South Wind continued to operate after the merger, and the Champion also ran the line from Jesup to Folkston instead of the main line once a day.^[10]

The Seaboard Coast Line's passenger services were taken over by Amtrak in May 1971. Amtrak continued to operate the South Wind until November 14, 1971, when Amtrak renamed the train the Floridian and reduced it to a two-night schedule.^{[11]: 94–96} Passenger service was ended on the line when Amtrak discontinued the Floridian in 1979 as part of the Federal budget cuts that year that impacted several major Amtrak routes. This ended passenger service on the Jesup Subdivision.

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation.