Jones, A. Crane

After a railroad career spanning forty-five years, A. Crane Jones retired in 1989 as senior vice president of the CSX Corporation. Jones graduated from North Carolina State University in 1951 with a B.S. in civil engineering. He served in the United States Army during World War II. Following his retirement from CSX, Jones dedicated himself to organizations serving Jacksonville, Florida, and actively supported many N.C. State University endeavors. Jones died in April 2001 and was survived by his wife Jane, their children, and grandchildren.

In 2006, CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Florida, owns companies providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services connecting more than 70 river, ocean and lake ports, as well as more than 200 short line railroads. Its principal operating company, CSX Transportation Inc. (CSXT), operates the largest railroad in the eastern United States with a 22,000-mile rail network linking commercial markets in 23 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. CSXT headquarters are in Jacksonville, Florida.

CSX Corporation was formed in 1980 by the merger of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries. Seaboard Coast Line Industries owned the Seaboard System Railroad, which had absorbed the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad, as well as several smaller subsidiaries.

The Seaboard System Railroad was created in 1982 as a result of CSX Corporation merging its subsidiaries Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) and Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The railroad only existed for four years, becoming part of CSX Transportation in 1986. The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad August 30, 1957. The Monon Railroad merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad July 31, 1971. The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, of which part had been used by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, sold that portion to CSX Transportation in 1991. On September 11, 1992, CSX Transportation bought the rest of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad through the Three Rivers Railway.