Card deck:Chesapeake and Ohio Lines | George Washington's Railroad | The George Washington | The Sportman | Th

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from many smaller railroads begun in the 19th century. Tapping the coal reserves of West Virginia, it formed the basis for the City of Newport News and the coal piers on Hampton Roads, and forged a rail link to the midwest, eventually reaching Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo in Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in 1972 it became part of the Chessie System, along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railway. In 1980, the Chessie system combined with Seaboard Coast Line Industries to form CSX Corporation, which by 1987 had merged all its railroad subsidiaries into CSX Transportation, one of seven Class I railroads operating in North America at the beginning of the 21st century. The C&O itself disappeared in a merger into CSX on September 2, 1987. Around the time of the American Bicentennial, The Chessie advertised itself as "George Washington's Railroad," and added some patriotic imagery to its double card box.