is the historical designation used by several railroads operating in the
U.S. State s of
Mississippi and
Tennessee during different eras.
The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction began in 1853 and the line was completed in 1860, just prior to the succeeded in repairing the damage and returning it to operating condition soon after the end of the War. The original Mississippi Central line was merged into the
Illinois Central Railroad in several transactions finally completed in 1878.http://icrrhistorical.org/icrr.history.html
Another company by this name was started in
1897 as the . This line was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company from
Hattiesburg , to
Sumrall .
In
1905 this company's name was changed to the ''Mississippi Central''. In
1906 a company was formed to build a rail line from
Natchez to
Brookhaven . In
1909 this line was absorbed by the Mississippi Central.
For a short time during the
1920s , the line operated a service named "The Natchez Route", running trains from Natchez to
Mobile, Alabama through trackage agreements with the
Gulf, Mobile And Northern Railroad . At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across the
Mississippi River to connect with the
Louisiana And Arkansas Railway to institute through traffic into
Shreveport, Louisiana .
On
March 29 ,
1967 the Mississippi Central was sold to the
Illinois Central Gulf Railroad .
The Mississippi Central name was resurrected in the northern part of the state by
Pioneer Railcorp when it purchased the former Natchez Trace Railroad from Kyle Railways. The line runs from
Oxford to
Grand Junction, Tennessee , for a length of 51
Mile s.
