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  • A general discussion about shortlines, industrials, and military railroads
A general discussion about shortlines, industrials, and military railroads

Moderator: Aa3rt

 #1193160  by zacblanton
 
Has anyone in the know heard of what's going on with Grenada Railway in North Mississippi, and their southern route from their headquarters in Grenada, Mississippi to Canton, Mississippi? For anyone looking for background info, Grenada Railway LLC is a leaseholder created by A&K Railroad Materials, who purchased the former IC/CN Grenada District in 2009 from CNRR, from Southaven, Mississippi, just south of Memphis to Canton, Mississippi. CNRR retained the trackage rights from Jackson to Canton because of the Nissan plant. In August 2011, Grenada Railway filed for abandonment of the southern portion of the line from Grenada to Canton, after putting an embargo on it. Public outcry stifled this attempt and in November of the same year they withdrew the abandonment attempt. The southern portion still sits dormant today, but Grenada Railway did inform the newly formed North Mississippi Regional Railroad Authority in August 2012, that they were going to attempt to file for abandonment again real soon. Here it is June 2013, and they never did attempt to file for abandonment a 2nd time, and when I visited Durant, Mississippi, a town along the line, I spotted a CN truck sitting by the town depot. Sorry for the novel, but I just wanted to provide information for anybody curious. I just wanted to know if anyone knew what Grenada Railway and A&K Railroad Materials were up to, and could it be possible CNRR is trying to get the line they sold 4 years ago back?
 #1198613  by mtuandrew
 
I can't say with confidence, but there was a bit of scuttlebutt in the CN forum that Montreal was reconsidering whether it shouldn't have kept the Grenada line and that perhaps it should get a purchase in order. Beyond that, I can't say whether that was fact or fantasy, or whether the CN truck was there because a crew was checking out the line or if they were buying BBQ. I am definitely not in the know!
 #1230659  by zacblanton
 
Well thanks for that little tidbit (rumor I guess?). I sure hope CN gets the line back, a lot of the shippers are opting for trucks now that GRYR has raised shipping rates way beyond what they were when CN ran things. Even info as small as that, gives me hope that maybe if things get too bad, CN will step in and take over.
 #1415104  by Jeff Smith
 
For discussion of the GRYR, an Iowa Pacific subsidiary: http://www.iowapacific.com/railroads/grenada-railroad/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Frankly, I'm unsure if it's railway or railroad: the IP site says railroad, but some other sites like Wiki say railway.
 #1415190  by Safetee
 
Curious why IP and some of its operations all of sudden pops up on the second of january while leaving off other lines operations or subsidiaries including mass coastal, saratoga north creek, permian basin? there are a million rumors in the enchanted forest and am just curious what if anything this change in rrnet means or doesnt mean.
 #1415204  by Jeff Smith
 
I've had this on my list for a bit; I'm trying to generate discussion of some of the railroad "families". I've only really done it for freight; the passenger operations are a little bit tougher for me to justify as passenger/commuter rail since they primarily seem "scenic" to me. They fit well in "tourist" for now, although maybe I'll try to break that out at some point?
 #1442162  by BR&P
 
A bit late in posting this but it's good news:
Aug 03 2017
COCHRAN & WICKER ANNOUNCE $7.54 MILLION TO IMPROVE GRENADA TO CANTON RAIL LINE
Grant Funding Will Support Restoring Rail Service on Grenada Railroad Track, Bridge Repair, Other Upgrades

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today announced a $7.54 million federal transportation grant to support restoration of Grenada Railroad rail service between Grenada and Canton.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved the North Central Mississippi Regional Railroad Authority (NCMRRA) application for FASTLANE grant funding to undertake a series of improvements and repairs on the Grenada to Canton line, including repair of the Coldwater River Bridge, which was damaged in a fire in July.

“This grant will help preserve the hard-fought effort to restore service in north-central Mississippi. Improving the Grenada Railway is an important part of an overall transportation system that supports economic growth,” Cochran said. “I commend the railroad authority for competing successfully for this funding.”

“Restoring this rail link through the heart of our state will result in a brighter economic future for the region,” Wicker said. “The project will combine public and private funds to improve freight movement, enhance safety for the general public, and protect and create jobs all along the corridor.”

The federal grant represents 50 percent of an overall NCMRRA project to rehabilitate approximately 90 miles of track of between Grenada and Canton. The project also entails repairing the Coldwater River Bridge near Coldwater, and repair work on several other bridges. The grant will also support reactivation of 18 active warning devices, and new tie installation sufficient to raise the entire 180-mile Grenada Railroad line to Federal Railroad Administration Class II standards.

The project will also be supported with private-sector funding and the Mississippi Department of Transportation Railroad Revitalization Fund Loan Program.

Congress created the FASTLANE grant program with the 2015 enactment of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The NCMRRA grant has been awarded under the FASTLANE 10 percent “small project” set-aside mandated by Congress to support regionally-significant freight and highway projects.

The NCMRRA was created in 2011 by representatives from the counties of Tate, Panola, Yalobusha, Grenada, Montgomery, Carroll, and Holmes counties with the objective of protecting long-term rail service in the region.
 #1499385  by BR&P
 
A brush cutter has cleared portions of the old KSRY line. Whether this is in preparation for scrapping, in preparation for track work, or just to maintain the status quo, I don't know. Pic was received about 4th hand, so I'm unable to give credit to whoever took it.
IMG_3748.JPG
IMG_3748.JPG (225.25 KiB) Viewed 8960 times
 #1503327  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
i'm on this property, at the moment. the line is being rehabbed, new ties in the sidings, on the mainline, brush cutting over the entire railroad, and bridge rehabs in the works. the owners are promising a 40 mph railroad, between memphis and grenada, before the end of the year. the slow orders are getting shorter (a 7 mile long, 10 mph order was removed yesterday, and bumped to 25) the owners have also just purchased the csxt mainline between jax and pensacola, and will begin operations around june 1st, this year.