From Wikipedia.
The name came about during merger talks between
Chessie System, Inc. and
Seaboard System Railroad, Inc., commonly called
Chessie and
Seaboard. The company chairmen said it was important for the new name to include neither of those names due to its being a partnership. Employees were asked for suggestions, most of which consisted of combinations of the initials. At the same time a temporary shorthand name was needed for discussions with the
Interstate Commerce Commission. CSC was chosen but belonged to a trucking company in
Virginia. CSM (for Chessie-Seaboard Merger) was also taken. The lawyers decided to use CSX, and the name stuck. In the public announcement, it was said that "CSX is singularly appropriate. C can stand for Chessie, S for Seaboard, and X, the multiplication symbol, means that together we are so much more." The T had to be added to use CSXT as a
reporting mark, since company initials that end in X can be used only by non-railroad railcar owners.
[
Seaboard Systems was an intermediate step between the older companies of Seaboard Coast Line, and L&N Family lines, and the CSXT. Seaboard Systems was actually a subsidiary of CSXT, and was sort of like a merger between the railroads of L&N/Family Lines, and Seaboard Coast line, but all of the railroads operated seperatly under the same banner. The entire Seaboard Systems was then brought into the CSXT.
