CRAZY!!! GE and EMD Locomotives on the MDS Railway

The Meridian Southern Railway is known for its unique roster of General Electric B23-7s, three in Conrail paint and two wearing Santa Fe blue and yellow.

The Class III shortline railroad operates the former Mobile & Ohio mainline, which ran from Mobile to St. Louis. It became a secondary route following the Illinois Central Gulf merger in 1972. After the Stagger’s Rail Act was passed in 1980, ICG was able to divest itself of less-profitable lines, and in 1986, the line was acquired by Mid-South, a regional carrier that was established to operate more than 400 miles of ex-GM&O track.

Between Mobile, Alabama and Meridian, the line suffered from little-to-no maintenance for the better part of 15 years under ICG ownership. This lead MidSouth to abandon a large portion o the line from Crenshaw, just south of Waynesboro, to Mobile. However, thanks to intervention by Waynesboro’s Marshall Durbin Feed Mill, the line was saved from complete abandonment.

After KCS acquired MidSouth in 1994, the line was leased and later sold to Meridian Southern Railway. Under MDS ownership, the line receives ongoing rehabilitation and improvements, but with some sections of rail dating back to 1907, the majority of the 55-mile line is limited to 10MPH. Certain areas are restricted to 5MPH. Although the route features several impressive bridges, most of them are not accessible to the public.

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