(Mississippi television station WLBT posted the following story by Bert Case on its website on March 17.)
JACKSON, Miss. — The Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad is considering abandoning over 200 miles of track in Mississippi.
The railroad is notifying shippers of it’s intentions on lines between Canton, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee, and between Brookhaven and Natchez, Mississippi.
The railroad owns another line between Jackson and Memphis and switched Amtrak passenger trains to that line in the mid 1990’s.
The railroad blames the possible abandonment, or sale of the track, on the closing of the International Paper plant at Natchez, which will happen this summer.
Shippers like George Donald, who loads five to eight cars of pulpwood every day at Durant, says he would be “devastated” because it would cost so much more to ship wood by truck. Donald says if the railroad closes the line he might have to close his business which has been there since 1946.
The railroad has also said it might “rail bank” the track, which would mean it would be closed, but not abandoned.
The railroad had started laying out new cross ties on the line recently, but came back and picked them up on the line north of Canton. The line is being rebuilt to accommodate Nissan’s new plant at Canton, between Canton and Jackson.
Central District transportation commissioner Dick Hall says he will fight possible abandonment, but he adds, “you can’t force somebody to lose money.” He says the abandonment would doom the economic prospects of many small communities along those lines. “I mean industry is going to go where there are some transportation facilities.” Hall said.
The Kansas City Southern Railway had once considered buying the track but that negotiation broke off when the Nissan plant was announced.