SOUTHERN ATLANTIC TRANSPORTATION didn't always have the proud name that it has today. When the SAXT first opened its doors the only locomotive it owned was a former ATLANTIC COAST LINE EMD-GP38.Also at that time the name Southern Atlantic Transportation didn't excist.The original name was the WALTON & SONS' railways.At the start up W&S rwys only had about 15 miles of track and didn't have a caboose to its name. W&S first opened its doors in the summer of 1982 to serve local businesses,and had a connection with the SEABOARD COAST LINE railroad.The SCL provided interchange with W&S rwys about twice a week. Delivering about 20 cars each trip. The W&S named for its two senior officers President SAMUEL STOKES and his dad,then W&S senior vice PRESIDENT JOHN WALTON.
At its start up W&S rwys VP Mr Walton was heavily involved in the line but it was already apparent after 6 months of operation that Mr. Walton would not have a controlling interest in the line much longer. Seeing this Mr. Stokes started working with
the local chamber of commerce and local businesses to increase traffic for the line that he loved so much. At the time Mr. Stokes got the answer time and time again.The W&S rwys was simply not known.So Mr.Stokes started promoting the line and the two towns its served.But then the W&S encountered another problem.Its track was in poor shape and was prone to derail cars and its lone engine ACL GP38 #960 was also prone to breaking down while on a grade crossing.Knowing that no shipper wanted to have its cars sitting on a grade crossing or worse the ground,Mr Stokes obtained a loan to have the geep 38s' prime mover rebuilt and the entire line refurbished.This immediately put the line into receivership as Mr.Stokes put the line and its locomotive up for colateral.This action enraged Mr. Walton and his disinterest in the line was starting to show more.Mr.Stokes worked on the EMD-567 prime mover,the locomotives engine,along side EMD contractors.This was done so he could have a first hand knowledge of the prime movers inner workings.Then Mr.Stokes worked along side railroad contractors to upgrade the tracks and physical plant or what there was of it.Once work was completed Mr.Stokes borrowed four heavy weight passenger cars from SEABORD COAST LINE railroad to have a shippers special on the line,and bring in new cliants.This was met with Mr. Walton protesting heavily.To which Mr.Stokes then ask Mr. Walton to step down as VP operations stating a failure to perform the duties of his office,and excessive customer comlaints.
In the spring 1984 Mr. Walton resigned his office as VP of operations or Senior Vice President W&S rwys.Mr.Stokes ran the shippers special in the winter of 1984 and was strongly encouraged to change the name of the road so that the former VP's name would have a negative impact on the line.During that trip Mr.Stokes also signed on 6 new customers and its current customers increased their rail loadings by about 8 to 10 cars per week.Mr.Stokes then changed the roads name to MOUNTAIN WESTERN,but soon realized that there want a mountain with a 450 mile radius of the line,and,the line actually traveled southeast not west as the name would imply.So the name CUB railways was created but this met with critism from PIPER CUB AIRCRAFT with fear that there would be an association between the two.So the road got the name CHESSIE SEABORD AND SOUTHERN ATLANTIC TRANSPORTATION.This came the CHESSIE system once this section of track,and its connection with the SEABORD COAST LINE,and the fact the line traveled along the SOUTHERN ATLANTIC portion of the UNITED STATES.Once this new name caught on the CS&SAXT started seeing traffic increase to such that it bought the entire 500 mile line and started serving businesses immediately that were located along the line.
By the spring of 86 the CS&SAXT had bought a 250 ton crane and two cabooses along with about 65 cars.By that winter the CS&SAXT was out of receivership and was back on its own.Then during the summer of 87 the CS&SAXT started buying up track and rights from CSX transportation and by the end of the year had grown to having over 2500 miles of track and was leasing 19 locomotives from a leasing agent.Then when the leasing company went bankrupt in at the start of the next year CS&SAXT made an offer to by the company.which was granted by shippers,other rail companies and the interstate commerce commision.So by that winter the CS&SAXT had secured its first merger and became a lessor of locomtives and rolling stock.
The course of the next few how ever saw some changes that weren't so bright. CS&SAXT starting the amount of derailments clime at a time when it was considering implementing passenger service. This new quickly spread through out the rail community and the reputation that the CS&SAXT had start working on quickly crumbled when two trains collided head on in DARK TERRITORY. The INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION came down hard on the line citing its past track maintenance and what it called an apparent "lack of regard for human safety". Stating in a report that it would never allow the CS&SAXT to run a passenger train nor a freight train at speed on the system till the line was NICKEL PLATED.
Hearing this and paying a rather hefty fine Mr. Stokes himself got on a Sunday with a high rail and drove almost every mile of CS&SAXT tracks. What Mr. Stokes did next shocked the rail community and even the(up until that time the unshockable)ICC. Mr. Stokes stated in a report that he system wide that"the track was in such poor shape and work orders were so far behind that the maximum train speed he would allow would no more than 15 miles an hour. Also he terminated eleven track maintenance crews for neglect of there duties, and hired new crews and new employees to get the crumbling system back on its feet. The dead line he gave the crews and the ultimatum he gave the crews was unheard of even to this day. He told all of his Supervisors that they would have no more than thirty days to get every square inch of the CS&SAXT system back up to ICC, DOT, STB, and CS&SAXT code. He also set guide lines for new track and ballast work. This meant that a section would be removed and right behind it a section would be replace, but only after all the old ballast had been replaced on the sub road bed. When informed that to do this the crews would have to work around the clock Mr. Stokes stated" that he wasn't going to be getting that much sleep during that month himself as he would out with the crews working himself. The ultimatum he gave the crews was either get the job done right and on time or don't show up for work the next day. Although to fair he also informed all of his crews that if the job was completed on time that he would pay for two week vacation to any where in the US that they wanted to by any means of getting there plus there normal vacation pay. His next move is what is said to have gotten the crews moral raised. Mr. Stokes told the crews that if the job was completed early that they would get a pay increase depending on the amount of days early it was completed and set new standards for track codes. He figured that he would increase the crews pay by 2.50 an hour per day that the track was completed early. Plus a completion bonus of 1,500.00 per man. When asked by the press why he made such a costly move for mere labors Mr. Stokes "laid the news reporter on his face" stating "that his crews were not just mere labors they were hard working people who needed a challenge and a reward, plus someone who could believe in them". Although Mr. Stokes was jailed for 24 hours for assault he quickly paid his fines and jumped back in with his crews.
Some 27 days latter the entire CS&SAXT had was not only back up to code but in the process did set 25 new standards for ballast laying, track laying and sub roadbed preperation. Today the CS&SAXT M- of-W are among the highest paid in the industry.
In less than a year and by 1990 CS&SAXT was back on its feet running freights and was getting ready to start operating its own passenger trains. But then the CS&SAXT faced another problem. While this problem wasn't as big as the ones seen in the past it was a problem that needed to be addressed. The problem facing the CS&SAXT now was its own name. Simply it was to long to go onto its locomotives and rolling stock. Mr. Stokes decided to shorten the name to SOUTHERN ATLANTIC TRANSPORTATION with either the initials SAXT or the name SOUTHERN ATLANTIC being applied to rolling stock and locomotives. During this time the now SAXT still had no real color scheme so the SAXT would just apply the name to locomotives that it had allowing all locomotives to keep their current color scheme. Then in the spring of 1994 Mr. stokes met his soon to be wife and soon spun off a new short line to cover the shorter distances allowing all SAXT manifest freights to conceitrate on their main line duties. Also Mr. Stokes started buying more and more rail roads that were going bankrupt believing that he cold breath life back into them. Once again Mr. Stokes got out to the customers and found out what they wanted and expected from the SAXT as their rail carrier. He then applied the information that was gathered and started setting the standard for customer service making it policy that When ever possible face to face contact be made with shippers. By the winter of 1995 SAXT had adopted a color scheme of maroon with yellow on the bottom of its locomotives and two, two inch pin stripes running down the side of the locomotives. Around that same time SAXT adopted a numbering system for its fleet.
When the physical year of 1998 started SAXT was serving 22 states and part of Canada and ran as far west as ST. Louis Missouri. Today the SOUTHERN ATLANTIC TRANSPORTATION is truly a line with a proud name and a proud man at the helm. The fleet of SAXT now consists of 65 locomotives both steam and diesel, and rosters right at two hundred freight cars and maintains over 23,000 miles of rails as well as not only leasing locomotives but repairing them by contract as well. Today the SAXT's credo "QUALITY THRU PRIDE" is felt every where through out the entire system. Every one is made to feel welcome on the system. Today's SAXT is a far cry from the feeble W&S rwys that started almost 15 years ago.
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