Columbus and Greenville Railway: Map, Roster, History

Last revised: August 30, 2024

The Columbus and Greenville Railway, otherwise known by its reporting marks (CAGY), is a historic short line dating back to the early 20th century.

The system was a longtime component of the Southern Railway although always remained a subsidiary due to Mississippi state law.

Its name was changed to the Columbus & Greenville Railroad in 1920 and was spun-off from the Southern three years later.

The CAGY maintained a linear network, running from the Mississippi River at Greenville to Columbus, near the Alabama state line.

The system was bolstered by numerous Class I connections including the Illinois Central (Greenville, Stoneville, Elizabeth, Moorhead, Greenwood, Winona and West Point); Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (Mathiston, Maben, West Point, and Columbus), Southern (Columbus), and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Columbus).

Photos

Columbus & Greenville 65-tonner #41, a product of Whitcomb, was photographed here by Warren Calloway at Greenville, Mississippi in October, 1971.

History

Mergers and bankruptcies, abandonments, and spin-offs have hurt the company over the years as it has lost many of its interchange points.

In 2001 severe washouts forced the railroad to embargo 89.5 miles of main line between West Point and Greenwood.

This trackage remains out of service today under Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. which purchased CAGY Industries in 2008.

The latter company operated the original Columbus & Greenville as well as short lines Luxapalila Valley Railroad and Chattooga & Chickamauga Railway.

The future of this property is, unfortunately, in doubt following two decades of no use.

However, one of the strengths of the original CAGY was its through route, the shortest trip across the northern part of the state. In addition, the town of Winona includes a connection to short line Grenada Railroad (ex-IC).

The first spike of the Greenville, Columbus and Birmingham Railroad, today known as the Columbus & Greenville Railway was driven in Greenville on January 5, 1879 by Mrs. H. B. Theabold who was a prominent Greenville, Mississippi citizen.

The track was completed eastward to Stoneville on March 31, 1878, and the first scheduled passenger service was started April 8, 1878, with two round trips scheduled daily between Greenville and Stoneville, Mississippi.

Passenger train service was extended as each track segment was completed. The construction of the station at 205 Central Avenue was authorized in 1886 and the building was completed in 1888.

It was what I call mock fortress architecture in which the top of the walls all around looked like a fort with no overhang and fake gun ports.

The main line was completed between Greenville and Atlanta June 18, 1889, and through train scheduled service began between Greenville and Atlanta on July 8. 1889.

System Map (Present Day)

A present-day system map of the Columbus & Greenville Railway. Author's work.

The ownership and name of the railroad also changed to Georgia Pacific Railroad in 1889. A through Pullman sleeping car was operated on this train for many years.

On September 1, 1894, the ownership and name again changed to Southern Railway in Mississippi. The Southern Railway in Mississippi was part of the Southern Railway, but, in 1892 the Mississippi legislature passed a law that any new railroad operating in Mississippi had to be chartered in Mississippi, thus the “IN Mississippi” part of the name.

In 1912 the Southern Railway in Mississippi enlarged the station building with a fifty foot addition on the rear and completely remodeled the building.

They removed the “fortress” wall tops and added roof overhangs all around the building to the basic present look of the building.

On November 6, 1920 the Southern Railway in Mississippi changed the name to Columbus and Greenville Railroad.

On August 6, 1923 Mr. A. T. Stovall purchased the railroad and renamed it the Columbus and Greenville Railway. During the Columbus and Greenville era, the premier passenger train between Columbus and Greenville was the “Deltan”.

Columbus & Greenville DRS-6-4-1500 #604 at Columbus, Mississippi in June of 1972. Warren Calloway photo.

The “Deltan” C&G Train Number 11/12 made a across platform connection with the Southern Railway Train Number 11/12 to and from Atlanta. The “Deltan” was completely air conditioned in 1938.

The last run of the Deltan was July 15, 1948. All scheduled passenger service ended in 1949 although special passenger trains were still run.

System Map (1940)

An official, 1940 system map of the Columbus & Greenville Railway. Author's collection.

The last “Special” was a football special from Columbus to Greenville and back in 1957. The Stovall family operated the railroad until it was taken over by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad on September 29, 1972.

The Illinois Central Gulf, also formed in 1972, was a massive system (for its time), controlling much of the trackage in the center of the country along the Mississippi River between Chicago and the deep south near New Orleans.

Logo

Columbus & Greenville Railway logo. Author's work.

It consisted of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio and Illinois Central railroads, which both operated in the same regions and served many of the same markets. Similarly, both railroads were unique in that they operated north-south main lines instead of the more traditional east-west systems.

On October 30, 1975, a group of local investors purchased the railroad and operated it as the Columbus and Greenville Railway.

Diesel Roster

Road Number	Model Type	Builder	Year Built	HP	Notes
41	65-Ton	Whitcomb	1944	650	Ex-U.S. Army #8440, scrapped.
42	65-Ton	Whitcomb	1944	650	Ex-U.S. Army #8459, scrapped.
501	SW-1	EMD	6/1940	600	Ex-TRRA #501, sold for scrap to M.D. Friedman.
505	SW-1	EMD	9/1947	600	Ex-TRRA #505.
506	SW-1	EMD	9/1947	600	Ex-TRRA #506, sold for scrap to M.D. Friedman.
507	SW-1	EMD	1946	600	Ex-IC #607, traded for former Florida East Coast GP7's.
508	SW-1	EMD	1947	600	Ex-TRRA #508, sold to United Cement of Artesia, Mississippi in 1981.
509	SW-1	EMD	6/1946	600	Ex-IC #608, traded for former Florida East Coast GP7's.
514	SW-1	EMC	3/1940	600	Ex-South Shore Line #601; built as Buffalo Creek Railroad (New York) #42. Acquired in 1975 and sold to Babcock & Wilcox of West Point, Mississippi in 1977.
520	SW-1	EMC	6/1939	600	Leased from ICG circa 1972. Built as Wabash #103 and later worked on the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern as #1. The BH&S was merged into the new Illinois Central Gulf in 1972. The unit returned to ICG sometime between late 1976 and early 1977.
521	SW-1	EMC	6/1939	600	Leased from ICG circa 1972. Built as Wabash #102 and later worked on the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern as #2. The unit returned to ICG sometime between late 1976 and early 1977.
522	SW-1	EMC	12/1939	600	Ex-IC #601, sold to Port Bienville Railroad.
523	SW-1	EMD	6/1946	600	Ex-IC #606, sold to Marshall Durbin Company.
524	SW-1	EMD	6/1946	600	Ex-IC #611, sold to Port Bienville Railroad.
525	SW-1	EMD	9/1941	600	Built as Elgin, Joliet & Eastern #240; sold to Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf as #600. The FC&G was merged to the ICG in 1972 where the unit became #611. It was sold to CAGY that year. Later sold to Vulcan Materials.
601	DRS-6-4-1500	Baldwin	10/1946	1500	Acquired new. Preserved and on display in Columbus, Mississippi.
602	DRS-6-4-1500	Baldwin	10/1946	1500	Acquired new. Wrecked and retired in 1961.
603	DRS-6-4-1500	Baldwin	12/1946	1500	Acquired new. Scrapped in the early 1980's.
604	DRS-6-4-1500	Baldwin	1/1947	1500	Acquired new. Scrapped in the early 1980's.
605	DRS-6-4-1500	Baldwin	1/1947	1500	Acquired new. Scrapped in the early 1980's.
606	AS416	Baldwin	9/1951	1500	Acquired new. Preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.
607	SW-1	EMD	6/1946	600	Ex-IC #9022. Sold to Harvest States Cooperative as #507.
608	GP7	EMD	9/1952	1500	Ex-FEC #608. Scrapped 4/2009.
614	GP7	EMD	9/1952	1500	Built as FEC #614, later worked on the South Shore Line. Scrapped 4/2009.
615	GP7	EMD	10/1952	1500	Built as FEC #615, later worked on the South Shore Line. Scrapped 4/2009.
618	GP7	EMD	10/1952	1500	Built as FEC #618, later worked on the South Shore Line. Scrapped 4/2009.
619	GP7	EMD	10/1952	1500	Built as FEC #619. Scrapped 4/2009.
621	GP7	EMD	10/1952	1500	Built as FEC #621. Scrapped 4/2009.
701	SD28	EMD	9/1965	1800	Acquired new. Sold to ICG as #9450 in 1972.
702 (1st)	SD28	EMD	9/1965	1800	Acquired new. Sold to ICG as #9451 in 1972.
702 (2nd)	GP9	EMD	7/1955	1750	Ex-Southern/CNO&TP #6246, acquired 1983.
703	GP9	EMD	7/1955	1750	Ex-Southern/CNO&TP #6248, acquired 1983.
704	GP9	EMD	8/1955	1750	Ex-Southern #8214, acquired 1983.
801	CF7	EMD	5/1951	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #254-C. Rebuilt as CF7 #2450 in 7/1977.
802	CF7	EMD	4/1950	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #234-L. Rebuilt as CF7 #2451 in 7/1977.
803	CF7	EMD	11/1953	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #273-L. Rebuilt as CF7 #2465 in 3/1977.
804	CF7	EMD	12/1952	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #308-L; renumbered 345-L in 5/1973. Rebuilt as CF7 #2464 in 3/1977. Scrapped 4/2009.
805	CF7	EMD	6/1956	1500	Built as Santa Fe F9A #285-L. Rebuilt as CF7 #2434 in 10/1977. Scrapped 4/2009.
806	CF7	EMD	5/1951	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #257-L. Rebuilt as CF7 #2548 in 10/1977. Scrapped 4/2009.
807	CF7	EMD	5/1950	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #239-C. Rebuilt as CF7 #2505 in 8/1974. Scrapped 7/2011.
808	CF7	EMD	12/1949	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #224-C. Rebuilt as CF7 #2483 in 1/1975.
1000	GP7R	EMD	8/1952	1500	Built as Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha #157. Rebuilt as Chicago & North Western GP7R #4469. Scrapped 4/2009.
1001	GP7R	EMD	4/1951	1500	Built as Chicago & North Western #1550; rebuilt as GP7R #4477. Out of service.
1002	GP7R	EMD	5/1953	1500	Built as Chicago & North Western #1659; rebuilt as GP7R.
1003	GP7R	EMD	8/1952	1500	Built as Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha #161. Rebuilt as Chicago & North Western GP7R #4467.
1543	SW1504	EMD	8/1973	1500	Built as NdeM #8848.
1586	GP7	EMD	9/1951	1500	Built as CB&Q #230; later became BN #1586. Scrapped 4/2009.
1804	GP11	EMD	1/1956	1850	Built as Illinois Central GP9 #9185; rebuilt by IC as GP11 #8736.
1806	GP11	EMD	3/1953	1850	Built as Illinois Central GP9 #8967; rebuilt by IC as GP11 #8747.
2011	GP38	EMD	1/1970	2000	Built as Southern #2785; became Norfolk Southern #2785. Formerly CAGY #2785.
2094	GP38	EMD	-	2000	-
2777	GP38	EMD	11/1969	2000	Built as Southern #2777.
2880	GP38	EMD	6/1966	2000	Built as Norfolk Southern (original) #2001; became Southern #2880 and then NS #2880.
3310	SD40-2	EMD	6/1966	3000	Built as Milwaukee Road #173, later became Soo #6346 then EMD Leasing #6346.
3312	SD40-2	EMD	7/1976	3000	Built as Missouri Pacific #3220, renumbered 6004 then became Union Pacific #3904.
7004	CF7	EMD	9/1949	1500	Built as Santa Fe F7A #38-C, became CF7 #2564 in 7/1977. Scrapped 4/2009.
8715	GP11	EMD	8/1956	1850	Built as New Haven GP9 #1208, sold to ICG and rebuilt as GP11 #8715.
8718	GP11	EMD	8/1956	1850	Built as New Haven GP9 #1224, sold to ICG and rebuilt as GP11 #8718.
8720	GP11	EMD	6/1963	1850	Built as IC GP18 #9423, rebuilt by ICG as GP11 #8720.

Columbus & Greenville's only AS416, #606, is seen here in Greenville, Mississippi on May 15, 1972. Warren Calloway photo.

The railroad continues to operate today as the Columbus and Greenville Railway although ownership changed in July, 2008, to Genesee and Wyoming, Inc., which owns and operates railroads in the United States and other countries as well.

The current Columbus and Greenville Railway operates between Greenville and Greenwood and between Columbus and West Point.

The track is out of service between Greenwood and West Point although efforts are underway to possibly restore service between Greenwood and West Point.

Most information on this page is courtesy of Harold Holiman.