The Mississippi Export Railroad (MSE) is a 42-mile
shortline railroad
:''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.''
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...
founded in 1922 which operates in the state of Mississippi from
Pascagoula
The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River.
The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw ...
to
Evanston. The company owns a North-South line between its two termini, along which it interchanges with
Canadian National
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN ...
and
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
. MSE also connects to the
NS in Mobile, AL, and Hattiesburg, MS and
KCS in Jackson, MS, through haulage agreements.
The MSE also has access to the
Terminal Alabama State Docks and the
Port of Pascagoula through reciprocal switch.
History
Moss Point & Pascagoula Railroad (1894 - 1922)
The company traces its roots to the Moss Point & Pascagoula Railroad, which was formed in 1894 and began operating between its namesake cities the next year. Initially a very small railroad with only four miles of track, it grew significantly starting in 1902 when it was purchased by the owner of a sawmill in Moss Point.
The railroad gained an additional 38 miles of tracks within the next year.
The railroad was severely impacted by a hurricane in 1906, declaring bankruptcy 3 years later. In 1912, the railroad was purchased by new owners, who extended the line to connect to their lumbermill in
Vinegar Bend, Alabama
Vinegar Bend is an unincorporated census-designated place in Washington County, Alabama, United States. Vinegar Bend is south-southwest of Chatom. As of the 2010 census, its population was 192. Vinegar Bend had a post office with ZIP code 36 ...
. In 1915, they renamed the company the Alabama and Mississippi railroad, to reflect that it now extended to two states. During World War I, the company again struggled financially, and the owners filed with the
Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the entire line in 1920. As a result, the company was declared insolvent and entered
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
.
Mississippi Export Railroad (1922 - 1950)
The bankrupt A&M railroad was purchased by Gregory M. Luce in 1922, and acquired its current name. At this point, the railroad extended from the city limits of Pascagoula north to Luce Farms, near Evanston.
The railroad served a variety of industries including shipbuilding on the coast, lumber mills, and a number of factories.
In 1940, the company bought its first
diesel locomotive. Six years later, the railroad tested the first and only locomotive ever produced by
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 employees, the second largest ...
.
Growth in the 20th century (1950 - 2000)
The company significantly grew its business during the 1950s, adding new customers such as a paper mill, chemical plants, and a pet food manufacturer. A major grain elevator opened in Pascagoula in 1961, providing more business for the railroad. The Mississippi Export Railroad was featured in 1974 on the news program
On the Road.
Starting in the later 1990s, the railroad was involved in an expansion of the Helena Industrial Park, located in Moss Point.
The 21st century (2000 - present)
In 2013, the railroad finished building the Escatawpa River Barge Terminal, allowing for cargo to be transloaded between the railroad and ships.
Current Operations
Mississippi Export Railroad is a Class III railroad serving local industries. MSE has a full service maintenance and repair railcar and locomotive shop.
The railroad also has railcar storage facilities, offers track maintenance and repair, and had transloading terminals. It also partners with
AO to provide tank car cleaning and waste disposal.
References
{{Authority control
Mississippi railroads
Railway companies established in 1922