South Carolina Western Railway

Darlington station, built by the South Carolina Western Railway in 1911.

The South Carolina Western Railway was chartered by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1910. It built a 38-mile line from the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Main Line in McBee, South Carolina east to Florence, South Carolina in 1911. The South Carolina Western Railway Station at Darlington was completed the same year.[1] The following year, it built lines from Hartsville, South Carolina, to Sumter, South Carolina, and from Lydia, South Carolina, to Timmonsville, South Carolina.[2] In 1914, track was extended from Florence southeast to Poston, where it connected with the Georgetown and Western Railroad.[3]

The South Carolina Western was merged with the Georgetown and Western Railroad, the South Carolina Western Extension Railway, and other nearly railroad in 1914 to form the Carolina, Atlantic and Western Railway.[4]

The Carolina, Atlantic and Western Railway became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1915. Track from McBee to Poston became their Hartsville Subdivision and track from Hartsville to Sumter became their Sumter Subdivision.[5] The Seaboard Air Line also continued to operate the branch to Timmonsville until its abandonment in the 1950s.[6]

In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) merged with the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). The Atlantic Coast Line operated a nearby line from Florence to Wadesboro with a branch to Hartsville. In an effort to differentiate the lines in the combined network, the SCL added the letter S to the prefix of former SAL, making the line's prefix SJ. This was particularly important for this line considering the nearly parallel ACL route also had the prefix J (which became AJ post-merger).[7]

After the merger, the company abandoned the original South Carolina Western Railway track from Hartsville to Florence in favor of the ex-ACL route. The Seaboard Coast Line designated the former Sumter branch as part of the Hartsville Subdivision. Further south, the Seaboard Coast Line also abandoned the line from Pamplico to Poston, with the remaining line from Florence to Pamplico becoming the Pamplico Subdivision.[7]

The Pamplico Subdivision was abandoned in the 1980s.[8] A short strech of track from Robinson to Hartsville was also abandoned in the 1980s. Track from Bishopville to Sumter was abandoned in 1982.[9]

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. CSX sold the remaining track from Hartsville to Bishopville to the South Carolina Central Railroad on December 1, 1987.[10]

Track is still in place from McBee to the H. B. Robinson Nuclear Generating Station, which is CSX's Robinson Spur.[11]