Cincy?

Have you considered leaving off the "Ohio" portion of the formal name?  With Cincinnati being in Ohio, I think it seems redundant, and I can't recall any other prototype names where both a city and the state in which it resides were included.

If you went with that suggestion, that'd leave you with the "Charleston, Norfolk, & Cincinnati", or "CNC", which plays in nicely with Cincinnati's nickname, "Cincy".

The '& Ohio" part was just a

The '& Ohio" part was just a borrowing from the B&O [my line is a mix of B&O and Southern practices since they're my two favorite prototype roads]. I had noticed the redundancy but didn't think anything of it.

However I hadn't noticed the CNC/Cincy thing. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, and it was staring me in the face the whole time. 

A bit off topic, but..

I was looking at that map, and I am curious about the line between Charlotte and Chattanooga.  I travel a very similar route several times a year, and I don't think that the geography would allow what you have drawn.  The closest you could some would be to utilize the Southern Ry. line between Salisbury (north of Charlotte) and Asheville, then the Murphy branch, and from there take the L&N line (also known as the Murphy branch, I think) which came up out of northern Georgia, and from there run into Chattanooga.  The result would be a broad sweeping "S" rather than the roughly straight line you have drawn, and would require running rights or some way to explain the purchase of the line from other railroads.  As far as I know, there is no other viable east-west route across the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

Of course, that may not matter to you.  In that case, enjoy!  I certainly cannot tell you what you should do or care about.  But I thought I'd mention it, in case you were curious.

I'm still in the process of

I'm still in the process of making my 'official' route map. Most of the lines outside of the portion I'm actually modeling (Pikeville,KY to Bristol,TN/VA) haven't been entirely mapped out. Most of the map I posted is "i want it to go in this general area but haven't yet surveyed a proper route"

As for purchasing other lines, that's where the CN&C's lines in Kentucky were acquired - the lines out of Ashland,KY to Lexington [L&N Trackage rights to Louisville] and to Elkhorn City,KY, near the VA line were in real life purchased by the C&O.

Simple

A Very Big Railroad

Bigger name?

I understand what you're saying Jim, especially if this railroad rebranded itself following a merger as so many did in the early 1980s.  However, the route map still shows a railroad that's substantially smaller than NS and CSX, suggesting that, while it's grown somewhat, it's still an independent.  Perhaps it's the "KCS of the east", destined to remain independent, or maybe one of the big guys just haven't gotten around to swallowing it up yet.

The OP has come up with a name which, to me anyway, seems evocative of many of the earlier railroads that strung together several of their early destinations to form their identity.  They typically took on a nickname, as the OP is looking to do for his railroad.  "Nickel Plate" is another example that comes to mind.

The Milwaukee stretched to the Pacific NW, and the Rock Island to the Gulf coast, New Mexico, and Colorado.  In my opinion, names or nicknames that evoke a specific locale, but don't really "fit" the railroad's present structure, just indicate growth.  In my mind, that helps to lend credibility to a proto-freelanced railroad.

Just my two cents worth, not intended to be critical of your suggestion at all.  I just find this kind of discussion interesting.

back in the old days

back in the old days - 1960

Case in point: The Akron, Canton and Youngstown RR was a Class I but was entirely within Ohio.

My freelance railroad is the Lapeer, Kitzmiller and Ohio - LK&O. Lapeer and Kitzmiller being terminuses, Ohio being the state it crosses to get from one end to the other of the railroad. It also has a few miles within the WV and PA borders however for my purposes there is no indication of such on the pike. 

Big name, Little name

I'm not entirely sure if consolidating operating subsidiaries [that used modified branding of the parent road] counts as a true merger, so I don't think a rebranding is entirely necessary for my line. Also, I feel that a big sounding name creates expectations my humble road may have issues living up to. 

Following Joe's first comment, I kinda stumbled upon the Nickel Plate similarity myself. I was testing the CN&C idea by editing the herald and paint scheme I had designed to match the new name, and thought of putting 'The Cincy Route' on the side instead of 'Charleston Norfolk and Cincinnati' because it's easier to read when it's passing a crossing at track speed. The formal name is still applied to the locomotives in the herald.

   the lines in the lower half of the circle read 'Connecting the Midwest & Appalachia to the Atlantic States'

I like it!

CM&A

Ambition...

A railroad's name need not fit reality.  For example, the Wiscasset and Quebec never got to Quebec...the name may show an ambition not yet--or perhaps never to be--acheived.  Or perhaps a declining line may have a name that reflects days of glory long past.