INDIANOLA, Miss. — The Columbus and Greenville Railway (C&G), has completed $2.4 million in track improvements that enable it to handle loaded railcars weighing up to 286,000 pounds between Greenwood and Indianola. Canadian National Railway (CN) provided financing for the improvement project in return for shipper commitments to route inbound grain via CN, the railway said in a press release.
Railcars with a maximum gross weight of 286,000 pounds have become standard in the railroad industry, improving efficiencies but posing a problem for smaller railroads such as the Columbus and Greenville, whose infrastructure was designed to handle lighter loads. Cars with a 286,000-pound capacity can carry 400 more bushels of grain than cars operating at the previous weight limit of 263,000 pounds, a more that 10 percent gain in carrying capacity.
“Our improvements will allow us to provide Mississippi Delta shippers and receivers the efficiencies and economies of 286,000-pound rail service and enable us to increase train speeds,” said Roger Bell, President of the Columbus & Greenville. “CN’s support for the C & G was critical, not only to our becoming a better railroad, but to the very continuation of our service to the Mississippi Delta.”
“The financial support we provided to the C & G demonstrates our commitment to Mississippi and to the Delta region in particular,” said Paul M. Tellier, President and CEO of Canadian National. “We consider the Columbus and Greenville one of our key partners in providing competitive, customer-focused rail service in Mississippi. The better service we can provide shippers, the better for the region’s economy overall. As Mississippi grows, we grow.”
Improvements on the C & G made possible by the financial support CN announced in October of 2000 have included installation of 23,000 new crossties and 75,000 tons of rock ballast on a 40-mile stretch of C & G trackage between Greenwood, where C & G meets CN’s mainline, and a point just west of Indianola. C & G rebuilt 11 bridges and upgraded two other bridges on that segment, upgrading a total of 5,000 linear feet of bridge structures. The company also upgraded 54 rail-highway crossings and installed two miles of heavier continuous welded rail (CWR). This work during the past two years complemented C & G’s earlier replacement of 38 miles of lightweight, jointed rail with heavier CWR, which improves safety and efficiency while reducing maintenance costs for both track and equipment.
Completion of the work has enabled the C & G to increase its trainspeeds between Greenwood and Indianola to 25 miles per hour from 10 miles per hour.
The improvements to the C & G main line track will also allow C & G shippers to take advantage of CN’s “Efficiency Trains,” grain trains of 75 or 100 cars that cycle between origin and destination points. Efficiency trains operate with incentives for the shipper, the railroad and receiver to load, move and unload grain within time limits in order to maximize equipment utilization. C & G’s participation in the handling of Efficiency Trains will mark the first time CN has entrusted the demanding and time-sensitive movement of Efficiency Trains to a carrier with whom it interchanges traffic.
“The opportunity to receive CN Efficiency Trains on the C & G in combination with the increase to 286,000-pound capability has already spurred Delta Western, a major receiver on line, to begin construction of an additional one and a half million bushels of grain storage capacity at its catfish feed plant near Indianola,” said Bell. “Delta Western, the world’s largest producer of catfish feed, will gain efficiencies and be better able to keep pace with the growing demand for its product, thanks to our improved service and our delivery of CN’s Efficiency Trains.
“C & G will deliver the efficiencies of 286,000-pound railcar capacity to even more Delta shippers in 2003,” said Bell. “Next year, we will upgrade five additional bridges on 18 miles of track between Indianola and Greenville to the west to enable shippers in Greenville to take advantage of the heavier payloads and improved service.”
Columbus and Greenville Railway, with 45 employees, provides rail transportation services to local communities and dozens of shippers through the heart of the farm-rich Mississippi Delta. The C & G, which traces its historical roots to the 1878 founding of the Greenville, Columbus and Birmingham Railroad, began operations with its current corporate structure on October 30, 1975.