Seatrain Lines, Inc. - Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Security-Columbian Banknote Company. Seatrain Lines, known officially as the Over-Seas Shipping Company, was a prominent shipping and transportation entity that operated within the Americas and across the trans-Pacific regions. The company initiated intermodal freight transport in December 1928, facilitating the movement of fully loaded railroad freight cars between the United States and Cuba. The inaugural vessel, Seatrain, constructed in England, was succeeded in 1932 by two larger ships built in the United States, followed by the addition of two more vessels in 1939. By the onset of World War II, Seatrain Lines had five ships in operation, which played a significant role in the war effort and served as a foundation for the design of fifty new military vessels. However, the company faced a series of business challenges during the rise of containerized shipping, leading to a precarious financial situation in the 1970s. Ultimately, Seatrain Lines ceased operations in 1981 after declaring bankruptcy.