There have been two uses of Columbus and Greenville Railway, both for the same rail line.

Original Columbus and Greenville

The first Columbus and Greenville Railway was formed by the sale of the Southern Railway operated Southern Railway in Mississippi, to local interests. In January 1952, the CAGY retired its last steam locomotive, Baldwin

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...

Ten-Wheeler #304 built in 1904. It continued independent operations until 1972 when it was bought by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad.

Present Columbus and Greenville

The second Columbus and Greenville Railway was founded in 1974 and began operations in 1975 over divested Illinois Central Gulf Railroad trackage 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 ...

. Its terminals, as the name implies, are

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

and

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. H ...

Columbus and Greenville Railway bridge over Yazoo River

In 2001, CAGY suspended service over of track between

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and Greenwood due to a washout. This action split the line in two. The western section operates between Greenville and Greenwood with an interchange 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 ...

in Greenwood. The eastern section operates the remaining trackage from West Point onwards. The company once specialized in transporting wood and paper products to and from local factories. The company's traffic base has expanded to include bricks, plastic products, feed grains for catfish and swine, finished and raw steel, and biodiesel as well as cotton and rice products. The company runs six trains a day, two between Greenwood and Greenville, two out of Columbus and two at the Severcorr steel mill between Columbus and Artesia. The majority owner of the Columbus and Greenville is CAGY Industries, which also owns the

Luxapalila Valley Railroad The Luxapalila Valley Railroad is a 38-mile short line freight railroad that operates between Columbus, Mississippi, and Belk, Alabama. The LXVR interchanges with the Columbus & Greenville, Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern. Commodities ...

and the

Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway The Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway is a short-line railroad which is headquartered in LaFayette, Georgia, USA. The railroad operated of the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway (a.k.a. the TAG route) from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Kensingto ...

. In June 2008, CAGY Industries was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

Preservation

Several pieces of CAGY equipment have been preserved and put on display: *Baldwin locomotive #601 is on display in front of the Columbus & Greenville shops in

Columbus, MS Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterw ...

. *Baldwin locomotive #606 "City of Moorhead" is on display at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview His ...

. *Caboose #500 is on display in

Winona, MS } Winona is a city in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,043 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County. Winona is known in the local area as "The Crossroads of North Mississippi"; the intersec ...

next to the train depot downtown. *Caboose #503 is on display in Propst Park in

along with some C&G passenger coaches and a GM&O steam locomotive. *Caboose #506 is in downtown

Kosciusko, MS Kosciusko is a city in Attala County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,402 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Attala County. History Shortly before the War of 1812, David Choate, a French trader along with his wife, a C ...

. *Caboose #508 is in front of a doctor's office in Greenwood, MS.

References

* * *

External links

Columbus and Greenville Railway official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming websiteCAGY Industries HawkinsRails.net CAGY collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbus Greenville Railway Columbus, Mississippi Companies operating former Illinois Central Railroad lines Former Class I railroads in the United States Genesee & Wyoming Greenville, Mississippi Mississippi railroads Predecessors of the Illinois Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1923 Railway companies disestablished in 1972 Railway companies established in 1974 Spin-offs of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad American companies established in 1923

Original Columbus and Greenville

Present Columbus and Greenville

Preservation

See also

References

External links