18-490: The Grenada Railroad (reporting mark GRYR) is a 228-mile long (290 km) shortline railroad that runs from Southaven, Mississippi to Canton, Mississippi , along the former Illinois Central Railroad trackage operated by Gulf & Atlantic Railways LLC . The main commodities the Class III railroad hauls include chemicals, flour, lumber, paper, plastics, and petroleum. The GRYR interchanges at Canton, Mississippi , with
36-468: A $ 200 million deal to form a railroad holding subsidiary, RailUSA LLC ; thus placing the Grenada Railroad in the group. They planned on continuing to upgrade the track to class 3 (40 MPH). In November 2022 Grenada Railroad Receives 286K GWR Certification. On April 27th, 2023, Grenada Railroad LLC (GRR) announced it had bought Grenada Railway LLC (GRY) and it's 228 miles trackage. In August of 2023,
54-416: A Class III is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $ 28 million. In Canada , Transport Canada classifies shortline railroads as Class II . There are three kinds of shortlines in the U.S.: handling, switch, and ISS (Interline Settlement System). It was reported in 2009 that shortline railroads employ 20,000 people in the U.S., and own 30 percent of the nation's railroad tracks. About
72-440: A quarter of all U.S. rail freight travels at least a small part of its journey over a short-line railroad. An ever-growing number of shortline operators have been acquired by larger holding companies which own or lease railroad properties in many states, as well as internationally. For example, Genesee & Wyoming controls over 100 railroads in over 40 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. A consequence of such consolidation
90-597: Is notable as it is 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. The Grenada Railway was formed in 2009 when Canadian National spun off
108-667: Is that shortline railroads may no longer be "by state". Railroad company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry . It can be: In some jurisdictions such as the United States , railway companies may combine these roles. Railway companies can be private or public . In Europe, the EU requires its members to separate the national railway infrastructure managers from railway undertakings which are public and private companies providing services by operating rolling stock . This ensures conditions enabling
126-591: The Canadian National , and at Memphis, Tennessee with CN, Norfolk Southern , Union Pacific , Canadian Pacific Kansas City , BNSF and CSX . The line was part of Illinois Central Railroad's Grenada District and was mostly used by its premier Chicago-New Orleans passenger trains, the City of New Orleans and the Panama Limited , running in the postwar period at speeds up to 100 miles per hour on some stretches. It
144-665: The 175-mile branch line from the Tennessee border south through Grenada to Canton due to low traffic. On May 14, 2009, the Grenada Star reported, "The Grenada Branch Line, the Water Valley Branch Line, and the Natchez Branch Line were sold to Grenada Railway, LLC, and Natchez Railway, LLC, both non-carrier affiliates of V&S Railway and A&K Railroad Materials." The 81-mile section running south from Grenada to Canton
162-459: The U.S. and 1990 in Canada, many shortlines have been established when larger railroad companies sold off or abandoned low-profit portions of their trackage. Shortline operators typically have lower labor, overhead and regulatory costs than Class I railroads and therefore are often able to operate profitable lines that lost money for their original owners. Shortlines generally exist for one or more of
180-591: The country, for instance the Russian Railways (the world's largest rail company by network size). Other countries have many different, sometimes competing, railway companies that operate each their own lines, particularly in the United States and Canada . Countries may have both public and private railway companies, for instance the United States, where the publicly-owned Amtrak exists alongside numerous private operators. This rail-transport related article
198-524: The following reasons: In France, the equivalent of shortlines railroads are the opérateurs ferroviaires de proximité (local railways operators). Because of their small size and generally low revenues, the great majority of shortline railroads in the U.S. are classified by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) as Class III . As defined by the Surface Transportation Board (STB),
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#1733085456904216-448: The former, railroads are categorized by operating revenue, and most shortline railroads fall into the Class III or Class II categorization defined by the Surface Transportation Board . At the beginning of the railroad age, nearly all railway lines were shortlines, locally chartered, financed and operated; as the railroad industry matured, local lines were merged or acquired to create longer mainline railroads. Especially since 1980 in
234-423: The latter companies to compete fairly among each other, with multiple companies bidding for the privilege to operate the line for a limited time period under public service obligation aided by railway subsidies or under franchising . In addition, other companies offer trackside and rolling stock maintenance. Some countries have in turn a national railway company that owns all track and operates all trains in
252-411: The parent company of Grenada announced the celebration of the complete restoration of its 235-mile line that runs between Canton, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn. Shortline railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In
270-529: The state bond. It was reported that Iowa Pacific would continue to operate the Grenada Railway, as well as work to rebuild the trackage between Grenada and Canton. Currently, tracks had been in use for car storage as far south as Winona, Mississippi . In 2016 Iowa Pacific sent their passenger train (decorated in the colors of the Illinois Central) to Batesville, MS to run a polar express train. The train
288-612: 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 Railroad Materials. The state of Mississippi contributed a $ 30 million bond, while Iowa Pacific Holdings paid the remaining $ 13 million. Iowa Pacific then leased the line from the Authority, the lease payments being applied to pay back
306-503: Was such a success that Iowa Pacific bought a warehouse and planned to run regular dinner trains. In August 2018 it was announced that International Rail Partners (IRP) had concluded a lease-purchase agreement with the NCMRRA, and would operate the line under the new name Grenada Railroad LLC. Two months later in October, it was announced that IRP had partnered with Equity Group Investments in
324-432: Was taken out of service in 2011 and was the subject of a dispute between Grenada Railway, the local towns and the 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
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