Batesville’s Railroad Blues, Part 2
Published 11:30 am Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Batesville’s Railroad Blues, Part 2
By John Nelson
Columnist
In 1956 with railroad freight operations adding to the chaos of Batesville’s town square, Mayor Dan
Ferguson requested that Attorney D.R. Johnson perform a title search of the right of way of the Illinois
Central Railroad Company (ICRRC) through the town.
Mr. Johnson started with a land patent issued in 1834 to a Chickasaw named Ishe-She-Un-Wah and
searched through all land transfers pertaining to railroad properties. His search turned up the same
records pertaining to the town square as presented by the railroad to the Chancery Court in 1916. But
outside of the square, he found no records of land transfers giving the railroad a right of way for its main
line through the town’s corporate limits.
He expanded his search by starting at the Tallahatchie River and abstracting all land transactions giving
the railroad the right of way into the town, and also recorded deeds and lease agreements allowing the
railroad to construct spur tacks.
An item of interest that Mr. Johnson noted was the railroad’s 1941 quit-claim deed giving Batesville
ownership of an 11,000 square foot section of land that is the town park. Since the park was a center for
public events at the time, this would have been considered a gesture of good will.
There were meeting between the town and the railroad at the time to discuss ways to minimize the
railroad’s obstruction of traffic flow, but the resolution of the problem didn’t come from agreements but
rather from changing times.
The first big change came rapidly in the late 1950’s and early 60’s when major businesses began to move
from the square to new locations on Highways 6 and 51. Grocery stores in particular took a lot of traffic
with them and relieved congestion.
The other major change happened more slowly with shifting modes of transportation. The nation’s
interstate highway system of the 50’s and 60’s coupled with increased automobile ownership after WWII
put more travelers on the highways than on passenger trains.
As for freight service, trucking companies could offer more flexible deliveries along highways that they
didn’t have to build or maintain, and trucks began to replace trains as trains had once replaced
steamboats. Reduced train traffic lessoned crossing complaints but made some worry that the railroad
might someday cease operations.
Between Memphis and Jackson, the ICRRC operated parallel tracks. One known as the “Grenada” line
passed through Batesville while the other called the “Valley” line followed a route through Greenwood.
Since locomotives traversing the flat “Valley” line burned less fuel, Amtrak moved its rail passenger
service to the western route in 1995.
After the Canadian National Railroad gained control of the ICRRC in 1998, the new operator saw no
reason for maintaining two tracks, and in 2009, sold the 187-mile “Grenada” line between Southaven and
Canton to A&K Railroad Materials. A&K formed Grenada Railway LLC to operate and maintain it, but
A&K’s focus was more on abandoning the line and selling the rail for salvage than on long term operation.
A&K announced its intent to abandon the line in 2011, and the prospect of losing a railroad that had
served Batesville for 154 years had townsfolk singing a different version of the Railroad Blues.
Soon after the sale of the railroad to A&K, concerned citizens in Batesville and Panola, and in other towns
and counties serviced by the line, got together to devise a plan to save it. By the time that A&K made its
intention official, the group had a plan of action.
The coalition’s work began with convincing the Mississippi Legislature that the line was important to the
economy of the area and then to persuade that body to create the North Central Mississippi Regional
Railroad Authority (NCMRRA). With bonds issued by the state and a loan from the Mississippi
Development Authority, the NCMRRA was able to purchase the railroad in 2015.
The NCMRRA has been successful in leasing the railroad, and in 2023, Macquarie Infrastructure
Partners, the leaser at the time, came forward offering to pay off the remainder of the bond debt and take
ownership of the line. Macquarie formed Grenada Railroad LLC to operate the line, and so the railroad
that Rev. Bates helped usher into town in 1857 is poised to make a comeback.
Railroads have always been more efficient in hauling heavy bulk materials, and since the contents of four
18-wheelers can be loaded on one railcar, future generations intent on reducing fossil fuel consumption
are likely to urge a return to railroads. Thus freight trains through Batesville are likely to grow longer
again, and one wonders if there might be a future chorus of the Railroad Crossing Blues.
Mr. Johnson couldn’t have foreseen the events of the past few years, but he thought that some friction
between the railroad and the town was always a possibility. His advise to Mayor Ferguson and the Board
of Aldermen in 1956 was to put his 79-page report “in the vault with the records of the City of Batesville
for future reference as well as for present information."