Air-line railroad


An air-line railroad was a railroad that was relatively straight, following a shorter route instead of a longer, winding route. In their heyday, which was prior to aviation, they were often referred to simply as "air lines".

Dictionary definition

gives the definition "Air line, a straight line; a bee line. Hence Air-line, adj.; as, air-line road."

Public reaction

Air line railroads began to be built in the mid-nineteenth century. As early as 1853, the New York Daily Times ran a satirical article mocking the trend, suggesting that the fad for an "air line" name was being used to float dubious investments:
When actual air travel began in the United States, the older usage of the phrase "air line" led to confusion. During a spate of interest in aviation shares on Wall Street following Charles A. Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight in 1927, Seaboard Air Line shares actually attracted some investor curiosity because of the name's aviation-related connotations; only after noticing that Seaboard Air Line was actually a railroad did investors lose interest.

List of air line railroads

  • Seaboard Air Line Railroad, a major system in the U.S. South, now part of CSX
  • Air-Line Railroad, part of the Southern Railway
  • Air-Line Railroad, part of the Southern Railway
  • Air Line Railroad, incorporated 1850, predecessor of the Southern Pacific Company
  • Arkansas Midland Railroad, a planned air-line railroad between Helena and Little Rock in Arkansas
  • Atlanta and Birmingham Air Line Railway, part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
  • Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line Railway, part of the Southern Railway
  • Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway, part of the Southern Railway
  • Auburn and Deposit Air Line Railroad in New York
  • Baraboo Air Line Railroad, part of the Chicago and North Western Railway
  • Birmingham and Atlanta Air-Line Railroad, part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
  • Boston and New York Air-Line Railroad, part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
  • Canada Air-Line Railway, part of the Grand Trunk Railway
  • Chicago, Santa Fe and California Railway, part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
  • Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, part of the South Shore Line
  • Chicago and Indianapolis Air-Line Railroad, part of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad
  • Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad. Less than 50 km was built and used until the 1940s as an interurban eastwards from Chicago, Illinois
  • Chicago and Northern Pacific Air-Line Railroad and Chicago and Northern Pacific Air-Line Railway, part of the Chicago and North Western Railway
  • Cincinnati and Chicago Air-Line Railroad, part of the Pennsylvania Railroad
  • Clinton Air Line Railroad, 1850s proposed railroad, graded but never laid with tracks, would have run from Hudson, OH to Tiffin, OH
  • Dixon Air Line Railroad, part of the Chicago and North Western Railway
  • Eastern and Western Air Line Railway, defunct narrow gauge road in northwest Ohio
  • Elberton Air Line Railroad, part of the Southern Railway
  • Eufaula and St. Andrews Bay Air-line Railroad in Florida
  • Fargo and St. Louis Air Line Railway, part of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
  • Georgia Air Line Railroad, part of the Southern Railway
  • Kansas City and Independence Air Line Railroad, part of the Kansas City Southern Railway
  • Le Roy and Caney Valley Air Line Railway, part of the Missouri Pacific Railroad
  • Long Island Railroad, formerly a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad; especially the Ronkonkoma and Babylon Branches; track routes established before the suburban development of Long Island
  • Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Air-Line Railway, part of the Southern Railway
  • Macon and Florida Air Line Railroad, part of the Southern Railway
  • Michigan Air-Line Railroad and Michigan Air-Line Railway, part of the New York Central Railroad and Grand Trunk Railway
  • Milltown Air Line Railway, a logging railroad in Georgia
  • Montreal and Boston Air Line, a marketing name used by the Boston and Lowell Railroad
  • National Air Line Railroad
  • New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railway, part of the Southern Railway
  • New York and Boston Rapid Transit Company
  • New York and Connecticut Air Line Railroad
  • New York and Pittsburgh Air Line Railroad
  • New York and Washington Air Line Railway
  • Niagara River and New York Air Line Railroad in New York
  • Northern Air-Line Railroad in New York
  • Northern Nebraska Air Line Railroad, part of the Chicago and North Western Railway
  • Pennsylvania Railroad along New Jersey section of the Northeast Corridor
  • Piedmont Air-Line Railway, part of the Southern Railway
  • Quebec and Boston Air Line Railway
  • Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line Railroad, part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
  • Richmond and Washington Air Line Railroad
  • Salamanca Air Line Railroad in New York
  • Santa Monica Air Line in Los Angeles County
  • Seaboard Air Line Belt Railroad, part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
  • Seaboard Inland Air Line Railroad, a predecessor of the SAL
  • Southern New England Railway, Never completed.
  • St. Charles Air Line Railroad in Chicago, Illinois
  • St. Clair and Chicago Air Line Railroad, part of the Grand Trunk Railway
  • St. Louis, Oklahoma and Texas Air-Line Railroad, part of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
  • Stillmore Air Line Railway, part of the Central of Georgia Railway
  • Utica and Syracuse Air Line Railway in New York
  • Virginia Air Line Railway, part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
  • Waycross Air Line Railroad, part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad