Nostalgia & History > Mississippi Railway

Can anyone tell me anything about a railroad out of Columbia, Mississippi that ran a tourist train using this Alco S-2 #7, or this Baldwin #203? The Alco photo was credited to Brent Wallace on a post card, and the steam photo was credited to Louis R. Saillard, also on a post card. The depot was on Second Street in downtown Columbia, MS. Thanks.

Barry Stone
Edmonds WA

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The second photo wasn't taken at Columbia, it was taken on the Port Bienville Railway near Waveland, MS, on July 19, 1986. The night photo session was arranged by Louis Saillard and Tom Schultz.

The Port Bienville operation was put together by area volunteers, and it ended in 1986. In early 1987 the equipment was moved to Meridian, MS, via Mobile, and some of it (including 203) eventually went to the Waccamaw Coast Coast Line in South Carolina. 203 has been in Knoxville, TN, for a while now, and has been in service on the Three Rivers Rambler since 2001.

That's an interesting tidbit about the second post card. On the back of it, it says; "Steam Locomotive #203, 'Lady', and Southern Coach #1002, 'Leaf River', await their next days assignment. Number 203 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1925 for the Washington & Lincolnton Railroad and later saw service on the Rockton & Rion Railway."

So is the Mississippi Railway a figment of someone's imagination, or did this volunteer group use that name?

Barry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/10 15:24 by poffcapt.

poffcapt Wrote:
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> So is the Mississippi Railway a figment of
> someone's imagination, or did this volunteer group use that name?

'Mississippi Railway' was simply the name painted on the locomotives.

I don't know anything about the Columbia operation. It's possible that it was a one-time event.

The Port Bienville operation (which had a name that was neither 'Port Bienville' nor 'Mississippi Railway', but again I'm blanking) was a 'throw a party in the barn' type of operation with equipment and labor provided by various people and nearby NRHS chapters - for example, the diner was on loan from the Southeast Louisiana chapter, if I remember the correctly. One of the major players worked for the Old Augusta Railroad, but I can't recall his name. J. R. Phillips of Mobile was in charge of keeping 203 in service, and at least twice it wintered in Mobile.

If that sounds vague and loosey-goosey, it's because it was. But then loans, handshake agreements, benevolent short lines, and steam moves on CSX were a lot more common back then.

JAC

Well, thanks for the information, John. Hopefully, someone else will read the thread and jump in with something about the Mississippi Railway. I can usually get a hit on something like this by going to Google, but this time it led me all around the barn, but not to the milk machine. There wasn't anything in Ed Lewis' Shortline Railway Guide, and a have several editions of Tourist Trains Guidebook, but no hits there either.

BLS

I shot the Port Bienville R.R. #1, a GE 45 tonner. on the cab also was this info, Owned and Operated by Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission. It was painted yellow with black lettering. I shot the unit in
Port Bienville, MS on 04/24/1981.
Stan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/10 04:53 by acltrainman.