Eastern Railroad Discussion > KCS Meridan Speedway Trains

Hi all. I was wondering about the current symbols/number of trains on the KCS Vicksburg/Meridian Subdivisions between Shreveport, Jackson, and Meridian. Also, how many UP trains cross the KCS main in Monroe, LA? Thanks all!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/19 12:46 by RiverLineProductions.

Not much to be completely honest. As far as road trains, on a daily basis I get about 12 trains per day. I live on the East end in Meridian. We don't have any locals out of Meridian except one that comes out of Artesia to meridian and back. 

Jackson and west you will get a couple of locals, but I don't know their schedules. 

The Speedway is a beautiful and very photogenic piece of railroad, it just does not have the traffic it deserves. In a 24 hour period west of Jackson, you may catch 14-15 trains in 24 hours. Some days you can sit trackside and they will run back to back, other days you can sit trackside and see one train and then go hours and hours before you even see or hear of anything else. 

I've lived on this line for 26 years and it hasn't had great traffic since the BNSF trains left in the mid 2000's, and even then traffic wasn't high. 

From a Post in January, 2019, updated post-PSR:

•Intermodal 
 
IATDA Atlanta, GA (NS 219) - Dallas, TX
daily 

IATDA2 Atlanta, GA (NS 23E) - Dallas, TX
5x a week 

IDAAT Dallas, TX - Atlanta, GA (NS 220)
daily 

IDAAT2 Dallas, TX - Atlanta, GA (NS 24E)
5x a week 

IAILC Meridian, MS (NS 23D) - Shreveport, LA (UP IAILC) 
3x a week 

ILBNS Shreveport, LA (UP ILBNS) - Meridian, MS (NS 22G) 
2x a week 

ILCAI Shreveport, LA (UP ILCAI) - Meridian, MS (NS I26)
1x a week 

ILXNS Shreveport, LA (UP ILXNS) - Meridian, MS (NS 22G)
1x a week 

IZCILA Meridian, MS (NS 225) - Shreveport, LA (UP ZAILC / ZAILCB)
6x a week 

IZLCAI Shreveport, LA (UP ZLCAI) - Meridian, MS (NS 226)
daily 

•Manifest  

MJASZ Jackson, MS - Sanchez, TAM (KCSM)
daily 

MNSJA Meridian, MS (NS 339) - Jackson, MS
daily 

MSHAR Shreveport, LA - Artesia, MS
daily 

MSHNS Shreveport, LA - Meridian, MS (NS 340)
daily 

MSZJA Sanchez, TAM (KCSM) - Jackson, MS
daily 

•unit trains (all run as needed. ~1-2 weekly) 

All in all, traffic across the Speedway is dismal.  You may catch a spurt of activity and see three or four trains in an hour, and then nothing else for several hours.  In daylight, 4 trains is usually the norm.  

It simply isn't worth the trouble to visit and shoot with the current traffic levels.

The UP Crossing in Monroe may see 8 trains daily, unless you happen to catch a few crude oil unit trains.  PSR has reduced the train frequecny on this line.  My last trip there netted me 1 train in 6 hours, roughly the same as the Speedway.

Vicksburg_Route Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> •Manifest  
>
> MJASZ Jackson, MS - Sanchez, TAM (KCSM)
> daily 
>
> MNSJA Meridian, MS (NS 339) - Jackson, MS
> daily 
>
> MSHAR Shreveport, LA - Artesia, MS
> daily 
>
> MSHNS Shreveport, LA - Meridian, MS (NS 340)
> daily 
>
> MSZJA Sanchez, TAM (KCSM) - Jackson, MS
> daily 

There's also MARSH Artesia, MS - Shreveport, LA and MJASH Jackson, MS - Shreveport, LA.

Andrew
 

M-ARSH was my error during the post-PSR update.  It does continue to operate.  M-JASH/M-SHJA hasn't been seen or heard in a while.  It may have been combined with M-SZJQ/M-JASZ or added to M-ARSH/M-SHAR.
 

And there is the at least five days a week turn out of Jackson to Vicksburg that interchanges with the Vicksburg Southern early morning west morning east. Have caught it last three tries.
JB

I don't count the Vicksburg Flipper because it may or may not run, depending on traffic to and from Vicksburg.  Sometimes it runs light power.   I usually roll the bones on the Flipper.

Back in the 1960's I spent several summers in Ruston, LA which the current KCS Meridian speedway goes through.  Back then it was the Illinois Central and remember seeing black IC Geeps going through town on occasion.  Not very often...maybe several times per day.  I also remember seeing the old IC Southwest Limited which was the passenger train from Jackson to Shreveport (I think).  

Ruston also had a Rock Island line and somewhere I have pictures of a Rock Island train going through Ruston, but I cannot find them.

Anyway it was an interesting time for a young railfan and I feel lucky I was able to see what I did.