The MidSouth Rail Corporation is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line operated by

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 midwestern and southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and ...

(KCS) as a result of the January 1, 1994, acquisition; KCS began operating over MidSouth's line on January 11, 1994. The line ran from

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, going east across

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and across the state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, running through the cities of

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

, and

Artesia, Mississippi Artesia is a town in Lowndes County, Mississippi. The population was 440 at the 2010 census. History Artesia was originally ''Artesia Junction'', a junction point on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. During the railroad's construction in the 1850s, a ...

, then across the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

state line to

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

, and finally (via

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

trackage rights) into

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Midsouth had two other branches, with one to

Counce, Tennessee Counce is an unincorporated community in Hardin County, Tennessee. Counce is located on Tennessee State Route 57 near the Mississippi border. The community is adjacent to the Tennessee River near the Pickwick Landing Dam. Counce is the terminus o ...

, and a disconnected line from Gulfport to

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

. Total mileage was worth of mostly former

Illinois Central Gulf The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

's east-west Shreveport - Meridian main line.

Operations

On March 31, 1986, MidSouth Rail Corp. was created to purchase of

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A ...

(ICG), with start up operations on April 1, 1986. Edward L. Moyers served as the railroad's first president. MSRC was mostly the ex-ICG route between Meridian, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana, with the earliest segment of this line being built in 1833 by the Clinton and Vicksburg Railroad. On September 8, 1987, MSRC acquired the

North Louisiana and Gulf Railroad North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and its subsidiary,

Central Louisiana and Gulf Railroad Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, These properties were combined as subsidiary MidLouisiana Rail Corporation. On April 14, 1988, MidSouth merged with the

Gulf and Mississippi Railroad The Gulf and Mississippi Railroad was the first regional railroad in the United States upon its creation in 1985. With over of track in the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama it was among the largest spin-off railroads in the post-St ...

, itself an ICG spinoff. MSRC operated this property under the name of SouthRail.

Kansas City Southern takeover

On January 11, 1994,

took over operations of all of Midsouth Rail Corp.'s lines, creating its Meridian Corridor to connect with the

References

Predecessors of the Kansas City Southern Railway Defunct Louisiana railroads Defunct Mississippi railroads Railway companies established in 1986 Railway companies disestablished in 1993 1986 establishments in Mississippi 1994 mergers and acquisitions {{Mississippi-transport-stub