Columbus & Greenville Railway

Greenville, Mississippi

tag_quotes1

greenville_seal What brought us here and made us what we are is the Mighty Mississippi. We are the land of cotton and the Delta Blues, where the stories are bigger than catfish and as powerful as the waters of Ole Man River. We have been shelled, invaded, burned, flooded and plagued. And still we capture imaginations and treat our visitors warmly like long-lost friends. On the banks of this colossal river is Greenville, a wellspring of music, literature, adventure, imagination, history and plain old fun. Greenville has inspired greatness from Native Americans to cotton barons, Pulitzer-Prize winners, Civil Rights leaders, Bluesmen, poets and inventors. We’re proud to share Greenville and Washington County with all; discover for yourself that there’s more than meets the eye in this land of rich customs and folklore, creativity and physical beauty that make up one of America’s most unique destinations.

Greenville - Washington County, Mississippi

greenville_inset egyptian ituated in the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and the border of Arkansas, the city of Greenville, Mississippi, has a railroad transportation legacy dating back to 1870 and the formation of the tiny Greenville, Deer Creek & Rolling Fork Railroad. By 1881, successor Greenville, Columbus & Birmingham had built from Greenville as far east as Indianola. Originally spanned with narrow gauge trackage, the lines from Greenville would eventually be standard-gauged with its connection to the Georgia Pacific Railroad as its expansion from Alabama westward to the River. Neither the Georgia Pacific nor successor Southern Railway ever attempted to ferry or span across the Mississippi with any success, making Greenville the western terminus of the east-west mainline that would eventually become the Columbus & Greenville. Until the ICG merger era, the C&G entered Greenville on the original Greenville, Columbus & Birmingham right of way (orange on map below) through the communities of Buckner and Greenville. In the 1980s, the reorganized C&G diverted at Stoneville over the former Yazoo & Mississippi Valley trackage to Metcalf, then southeast into Greenville (green on map). This remains the route today in the Genesee & Wyoming era. The middle portion of the original mainline is out of service and overgrown, with car storage on the east end and one remaining industry on the west end.

gcb_certificate

collection

gcb_guide1878

1878 Official Guide ad / collection

gcb_map

GCB route map / Mississippi Rails

greenville_map

adapted from SPV Comprehensive Railroad Atlas / collection

greenville_leader

Greenville, Ms / Sep 1982 / Louis Saillard

tag_quotes1

For 68 years there has been a railroad stretching from the hill-and-dale country of east Mississippi across the state to the flat and fertile Delta and to Greenville (thus it is called the Delta Route). The dream was to cross the river at Greenville. That was many years ago, and it has not yet been fulfilled. So the Columbus & Greenville terminates at its western namesake but looks across the wide and unpredictable Father of Waters — both a blessing and a threat to all who live and work in the rich alluvial plain called the Mississippi Delta.

Dibrell L. Du Val - 1958

Stations

The Columbus & Greenville inhabited two different stations in Greenville over the decades, one in the passenger era and another in the post-Illinois Central Gulf merger era. Greenville being the terminus of the Southern Rwy in Mississippi, there was naturally a small terminal passenger depot in town to service westbound trains having completed their run. Use of the station as a terminus ended with the demise of passenger service in the late 1940s. In the mid 1970s, the C&G inhabited the small ex Illinois Central depot in Greenville for use as a yard office. That building has since been vacated by the shortline in the Genesee & Wyoming era.

route_greenville

1955 Official Guide ad / collection

greenville_depot1917

Columbus & Greenville depot

Greenville, Ms / Mar 1917 / collection

srm_greenville

Greenville, Ms / 1916 / collection

greenville_depot1936

Greenville, Ms / 1936 / collection

greenville_depot1944

Greenville, Ms / 1944 / collection

greenville_depot1981a

Greenville, Ms / May 1981 / Louis Saillard

greenville_depot1981b

Greenville, Ms / May 1981 / Louis Saillard

greenville_office1975

Illinois Central depot

Greenville, Ms / Sep 1975 / Fred Goff tag_rrpa

greenville_office1989a

Columbus & Greenville yard office

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

tag_field
greenville_notes1989a

Jul 1989

greenville_office1989b

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_office1989c

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the former Columbus & Greenville yard office plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_office2020a

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020d

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020e

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020f

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020g

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020j1 greenville_office2020j2 greenville_office2020j3 greenville_office2020j4 greenville_office2020j5 greenville_office2020j6

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020h

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020k1 greenville_office2020k2 greenville_office2020k3

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020i

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020l

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020m

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020n

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020o

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020p

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_office2020q

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

cagy1806e

Columbus & Greenville #1806

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy1806a

Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy1806c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy1806g

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy1806j

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

Yard areas

greenville_notes1972

notes on yard area / 1972 / JCH

greenville_yard1972

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

cagy41a

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

cagy520b

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

tag_pin

Click to see the riverside yard area plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_yard1980

Greenville, Ms / 1980 / Louis Saillard

greenville_yard1982a

Greenville, Ms / Oct 1982 / Gerhard Anderson

greenville_yard1982b

Oct 1982 / Gerhard Anderson

greenville_yard1989a

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

tag_field

Greenville, Ms — July 1989 — Found CAGY GP7 #608 (Sep 1952, EMD #17345, ex Florida East Coast) working cuts of cars in the yard adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

greenville_yard1989b

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_yard1989c

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_yard1989d

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see this yard area plotted on a Google Maps page

tag_field
greenville_notes1989b

Jul 1989

greenville_yard1989f

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / JCH

greenville_yard1989g

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / JCH

cagy608_roster

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_yard1989e

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_yard2020a

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_yard2020b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_yard2020c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_yard2020d

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_yard2020e

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70312

Columbus & Greenville #70312

covered hopper / Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70324

Columbus & Greenville #70324

covered hopper / Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70341

Columbus & Greenville #70341

covered hopper / Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_yard2020f

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_closeup Baldwin #606

journal_rwh

In the summer of 1989, dad and I crawled all over the city of Greenville--our final spot on a multi-day trek across the Delta Route from east to west. We photographed switching action in the yard, the engine servicing area, and the ex Illinois Central depot in town. Dad had covered the same ground in the early 1970s, so he was anxious to get around and see what had changed in 15 years. While poking around some industrial sites, we stumbled upon Baldwin #606 shoved down a grass-covered spur. Weeds and trees were growing up all around her, but closer inspection revealed that — cosmetically, at least — she was not in too bad a shape. The prime mover had been scavenged, and some ragged holes had been torched into her long hood. The blue and white paint scheme of the post-ICG Columbus & Greenville was still in decent shape, and still stenciled on her cab was the name "City of Moorhead." Below the engine number, the cab still read "Where the Southern crossed the Yellow Dog."

greenville_notes1989c It was a less than glorious retirement for a workhorse of a road switcher, one of only twenty-one AS-416 models built by the forces in Philadelphia and the last of a small stable of 6-axle Baldwins that helped to secure a place for the little C&G in the pantheon of great Deep South shortlines. Thirty-eight years had passed since her arrival in Columbus, but the torch marks and the trees growing up under the walkways made it clear that her days of shuffling cars in the Delta and building trains #51 and 52 had come to close.

We spent that entire morning in Greenville under cloudy gray skies.
Upon discovering 606 shoved in the weeds, I knew why.

greenville_606a

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_606b

Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_606c

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

greenville_606d

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1989 / RWH

tag_jump

See also Ralph's journal entry on #606 in our CAGY Baldwin scrapbook


Old Main

srm_greenville The remains of the original Greenville, Columbus & Birmingham right of way that was until the 1980s the Columbus & Greenville mainline into Greenville are now an extended industrial spur. The track leaves the current mainline east of Theobald Street, running northeast along Railroad Avenue until Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, where is turns almost due east through the Greenville neighborhood ... until it plays out, west of the community of Buckner. As of 2020, it serves one customer: Loveland Products, producer of agricultural chemicals. Located at Raceway Road, the old C&G main is out of service east of their facility. Rails are still in place at the next grade crossing east, at Seven Oaks Road, but the line is overgrown.

greenville_oldmain1

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain2

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain3

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the Old Main switch area plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_oldmain4

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain5

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain6

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the Nelson Street crossing area plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_oldmain7

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain8

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain9

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain10

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain11

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain12

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain13

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain14

Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see this area along Railroad Avenue plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_oldmain15

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain16

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain17

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain18

Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd - Mississippi Route 1

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain19

Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the Mississippi Route 1 crossing plotted on a Google Maps page

tag_jump

See also our Great River Railroad shortline scrapbook for more Mississippi Route 1 locations

greenville_oldmain1972

Greenville, Ms / Sep 1972 / Louis Saillard

greenville_oldmain20

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain21

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain22

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the Raceway Road crossing plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_oldmain23

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain24

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain25

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain26

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain27

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain28

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_spot Loveland Products

greenville_oldmain29

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_quotes1

loveland_logo At Loveland Products, Inc. we offer a complete line of high performance input products. Our portfolio of seed treatment, plant nutrition, fertilizer, adjuvant and crop protection products are second to none. We are constantly striving to bring new, unique chemistries to the marketplace to provide innovative solutions to problems across the agricultural and professional non-crop industries. The combination of high performance, high quality, competitively priced products, with the knowledge and service from the Nutrien Ag Solutions team that supports them, makes Loveland Products a good value for any operation.

Loveland Products

greenville_oldmain32

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain30

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain31

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain37

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_jump

See also our CAGY Switching Jobs scrapbook for more Loveland Products action


greenville_oldmain33

Leland, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the Seven Oaks Road crossing plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_oldmain34

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain35

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_oldmain36

Leland, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH


Levee Line

port_inset For many years the Columbus & Greenville has serviced a riverside levee line that runs southwest from the original C&G yard and parallels Levee Road, adjacent to US Highway 82. The line has sidings to a number of industrial facilities, including the Port of Greenville, running as far downriver as the Producers Rice Mill and the Gerald Andrus generating station.

port_clipping1978

from CAGY company newsletter - Mar 1978 / collection

port_clipping1988

1988 Official Guide clipping / collection

greenville_levee1972a

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

greenville_levee1972b

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

greenville_levee1972c

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

greenville_levee1972d

Greenville, Ms / Jul 1972 / JCH

greenville_levee2020s

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_field

Greenville, Ms - Jun 2020 - While tracing the levee line south of the old Columbus & Greenville riverside yard, found CAGY #8720 (Paducah GP11, blt Jun 1963, EMD #28286) parked on the Harbor Front Road industrial spur.

cagy8720h

Columbus & Greenville #8720

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720a

Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720i2

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720i1

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720d

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy8720e

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020t

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

tag_pin

Click to see the start of the levee line at Walthall Street plotted on a Google Maps page

greenville_levee2020a

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020d

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020e

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020f

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020g

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020h

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020i

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020j

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020k

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020l

Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020m

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020n

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020o

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020p

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020q

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

greenville_levee2020r

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70308a

Columbus & Greenville #70308

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70308b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70308c

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70308d cagy70308e cagy70308f

Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70302b

Columbus & Greenville #70302

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70313a

Columbus & Greenville #70313

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH

cagy70313b

Greenville, Ms / Jun 2020 / RWH


tag_lantern back to top
This page was updated on 2021-10-01