Mona tried to tell me

To stay away from the train line

She said that all the railroad men

Just drink up your blood like wine

— Bob Dylan, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

By John Howell Sr.

Citing opposition from elected officials from Senator Thad Cochran to state representatives, Grenada Railway LLC on Thursday withdrew its petition to abandon the portion of its line between Grenada and Canton.

In a letter from Washington attorney Fritz R. Kahn, representing Grenada Railway, to the Surface Transportation Board, he stated that the railroad company “deems it prudent respectfully to … withdraw its Petition…”

“It’s certainly a victory for all of us,” said Panola Partnership CEO Sonny Simmons. Simmons had coordinated responses from the Panola County Board of Supervisors and the City of Batesville opposing the abandonment and protesting Grenada Railway’s petition to expedite the abandonment without holding a public hearing. The Panola Partnership CEO also served as liaison for Panola County with the eight other counties served by the Grenada Railway’s Memphis-to-Canton route.

Government and economic development officials along the route expressed concern that abandoning the 80-mile route south of Grenada would soon be followed by abandoning the remaining rail between Canton and Southaven. The concern prompted plans to form a railroad authority which would seek another operator for the rail line. The opponents of abandonment found their first victory when the Surface Transporation Board scheduled the public hearing that Grenada Railway had sought to avoid.

Kahn’s letter noted that the Surface Transportation Board, “nevertheless granted the request for a hearing.”
Letters of protest filed with the Surface Transportation Board objecting to the abandonment and/or calling for a public hearing included two from railroad companies with “offers of financial assistance. Permian Basin Railways, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC stated its intentions in a letter dated October 19. Mississippi Central Railroad, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp stated in an October 7 letter an interest “to purchase all or part” of the route proposed for abandonment.

Permian Basin Railways owns the Texas-New Mexico Railroad and the West Texas and Lubbock Railway, both lines of about 100 miles in Texas. The Mississippi Central Railroad operates 51 miles of track from Oxford to Grand Junction, Tenn. and 11 miles in Iuka, primarily hauling wood products and fertilizer, according to its web site.

Grenada Railway serves Madison, Yazoo, Holmes, Carroll, Mongomery, Grenada, Yalobusha, Panola, Tate and DeSoto counties. The line was first completed in the 1850s and owned by Illinois Central Railroad for most of its history. Canadian National acquired the railroad in 1998. In 2009, CN sold the Southaven-to-Canton portion of the route to Grenada Railway.

Kahn’s November 10 letter withdrawing the abandonment request again cited limited usage by freight shippers and losses during 2010 and the first six months of 2011.