West Tennessee Railroad

Railway line in the United States of America

West Tennessee RailroadOverview

Headquarters| Jackson, Tennessee
Reporting mark| WTNN
Locale| West Tennessee
Dates of operation| 1984-
Technical
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The West Tennessee Railroad (reporting mark WTNN) is a shortline railroad in the Southern U.S., connecting Corinth, Mississippi, to Fulton, Kentucky, via western Tennessee. The company began operating in 1984 on a portion of the former Mobile and Ohio Railroad (M&O) main line between Jackson and Kenton, Tennessee. It significantly expanded operations in 2001 through the lease, from the Norfolk Southern Railway, of the ex-M&O south to Corinth and a former main line of the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) north to Fulton, as well as a branch from Jackson to Poplar Corner (ex-Birmingham and Northwestern Railway, acquired by the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1924). All of these lines were part of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (ICG) prior to its 1980s program of spin-offs, during which Gibson County purchased the Jackson-Kenton line and the Southern Railway acquired the Corinth-Fulton line and Poplar Corner branch.

The company is under common control with the South Central Tennessee Railroad and the Tennken Railroad.[1] Its main line was upgraded as part of the MidAmerica Corridor, an initiative by the Canadian National Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway to improve rail service between Illinois and the Southeast.

## History and current operations

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The Mobile and Ohio Railroad completed a line between Mobile, Alabama, and Columbus, Kentucky, in 1861,[2] and the Mississippi Central Railroad, an Illinois Central Railroad predecessor, completed its north–south line between New Orleans, Louisiana and Cairo, Illinois in 1873.[3] The Birmingham and Northwestern Railway opened a line between Jackson, where the M&O and IC lines crossed, and Dyersburg in 1912 and was purchased by the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1924.[4] Through mergers, all of these lines became part of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in 1972.

The Gibson County Railroad Authority acquired the line between Jackson and Kenton in August 1984, and the new West Tennessee Railroad began operations in October that same year.[5] The Southern Railway bought the Corinth-Jackson-Fulton and Jackson-Poplar Corner lines from the ICG in June 1988,[6] and in August 2001 the Norfolk Southern Railway, successor to the Southern, leased them to WTNN.[7] (The Southern also acquired the ICG's line southeast to Haleyville, Alabama, and trackage rights from Fulton north to Centralia, Illinois, and NS sold the former, where not abandoned, to the Redmont Railway in 1995.)

## References

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1. ^ STB Finance Docket No. 34073, August 17, 2001
2. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission, 143 I.C.C. 459 (1928): Valuation Docket No. 149, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company et al.
3. ^ W. K. Ackerman, History of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and Representative Employes, 1900, p. 118
4. ^ James Hutton Lemly, The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio: A Railroad that Had to Expand or Expire, 1953, pp. 224, 266
5. ^ Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition, Kalmbach Publishing, 1996, pp. 330-331
6. ^ Union Transportation Union, Petitioner, v. Interstate Commerce Commission and United States of America, Respondents, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Southern Railway Company, and Illinois Central Railroad Company, Intervenors, decided March 28, 1989
7. ^ STB Finance Docket No. 34039, August 17, 2001

## External links

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* Railways portal

* West Tennessee Railroad
* Locomotive Roster (current and historical locomotive roster)

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Railroads of Kentucky

Common carriers|

* BNSF Railway
* Carrollton Railroad
* CSX Transportation
* Fredonia Valley Railroad
* Illinois Central Railroad
* Indiana Rail Road
* Kentucky and Tennessee Railway
* KWT Railway
* Louisville and Indiana Railroad
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Paducah & Louisville Railway
* Paducah & Illinois Railroad
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Central Kentucky Lines
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Memphis Line
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Bardstown Line
* Tennken Railroad
* Transkentucky Transportation Railroad
* Western Kentucky Railway

Passenger carriers|

* Amtrak

Private carriers|

* Cando Contracting
* Centrus Energy
* JRL Coal
* Respondek Railroad
* R.J. Corman Railroad Switching

* See also: Former carriers in Kentucky
* List of United States railroads by political division

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Railroads of Mississippi

Common carriers|

* Alabama Southern Railroad
* Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway
* Alabama Great Southern Railroad
* BNSF
* Columbus & Greenville Railway
* Canadian National Railway
* Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad
* CPKC
* CSX
* Gloster Southern Railroad
* Great River Railroad
* Golden Triangle Railroad
* Grenada Railroad
* Illinois Central Railroad
* Kosciusko & Southwestern Railway
* Luxapalila Valley Railroad
* Mississippi Delta Railroad
* Meridian Southern Railway
* M&B Railroad
* Mississippi Central Railroad
* Mississippi Export Railroad
* Mississippi Southern Railroad
* Mississippian Railway
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Natchez Railway
* Old Augusta Railroad
* Port Bienville Railroad
* Ripley & New Albany Railroad
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Tennessee Terminal
* Redmont Railway
* Tishomingo Railroad
* Vicksburg Southern Railroad
* West Tennessee Railroad

Passenger carriers|

* Amtrak

* See also: Former carriers in Mississippi
* List of United States railroads by political division

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Railroads of Tennessee

Common carriers|

* Alabama Great Southern Railroad
* BNSF
* Chattooga & Chickamauga Railway
* Caney Fork and Western Railroad
* Central of Georgia Railroad
* Canadian National Railway
* Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway
* CSX Transportation
* East Chattanooga Belt Railway
* East Tennessee Railway
* Heritage Railroad
* Illinois Central Railroad
* Kansas City Southern Railway
* KWT Railway
* Knoxville and Holston River Railroad
* Mississippi Central Railroad
* Nashville & Eastern Railroad
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Nashville & Western Railroad
* RJ Corman
* South Central Tennessee Railroad
* Sequatchie Valley Railroad
* Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railway
* Tennessee Railroad
* Tennken Railroad
* Tennessee Southern Railroad
* Union Pacific
* Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad
* West Tennessee Railroad

Passenger carriers|

* Amtrak
* WeGo Star

* See also: Former carriers of Tennessee
* List of United States railroads by political division

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