Reporting mark GRYR Length 187 mi (301 km) Founded 2009 Locale Southern United States | Dates of operation 2009– Headquarters Grenada, Mississippi Date of operation 2009 | |
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Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Predecessors Canadian National Railway, Illinois Central Railroad | ||
Grenada railway 11 20 2015
The Grenada Railway (reporting mark GRYR) is a 187-mile long (301 km) shortline railroad that runs from Southaven, Mississippi to Canton, Mississippi, along former Illinois Central Railroad trackage. GRYR interchanges with the Canadian National Railway. The main commodities the railroad hauls include forestry products, scrap metal, and grain.
Contents
History
The line was part of Illinois Central Railroad's "Grenada District" and was mostly used by its premier passenger trains the City of New Orleans and the Panama Limited at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. The line had many hills and curves, making it unsuitable for long freight trains, which mainly used Illinois Central's "Yazoo District" several miles to the west, through the flat Mississippi Delta. It was notable as the line on which Casey Jones, the famed railroader, was killed.
On September 10, 1995 Amtrak's City of New Orleans operated over the Grenada District for the last time. A few years later in 1998, Canadian National bought the Illinois Central Railroad and diverted more traffic over to the Yazoo District.
Current operations
The Grenada Railway was formed in 2009 when Canadian National spun off the 175-mile line from the Tennessee border south through Grenada to Canton due to low traffic.
The 81-mile section running south from Grenada to Canton has been out of service since 2011 and was the subject of a dispute between Grenada Railway, local towns and counties along the tracks and the Surface Transportation Board. GRYR claimed there was not enough traffic to justify keeping the line open, while the towns and counties bordering the tracks argued that abandoning the railroad would hurt them economically. The railroad eventually withdrew its application to abandon the trackage in November 2011.
In 2015, the North Central Mississippi Regional Railroad Authority purchased the entire rail line for $43 million from previous owner A&K Railway Materials. The state of Mississippi contributed a $30 million bond, while Iowa Pacific Holdings paid the remaining $13 million. Iowa Pacific will lease the line from the Authority, which will pay back the state bond, and will continue to operate the Grenada Railway, as well as work to rebuild the trackage between Grenada and Canton. Currently, tracks have been in use for car storage as far south as Winona, Mississippi.