# Former Amtrak River Line segment being reactivated



## dlagrua (Aug 27, 2015)

I read in Trains Magazine today that Iowa Pacific is at it again, The Mississippi river line that extends from South Haven, Miss. to Canton, MIss.186 miles long, owned by the branch Line Granada RR has been taken over by Iowa Pacific. The southern part of the line was out of service since 2011 and close to being abandoned.

This is a former Illinois Central RR line and was the former route of the Amtrak City of New Orleans that was rerouted in 1995. Amtrak marked stations still remain on the line but the article said that there are no plans to return passenger service to the line. I wonder if this was also part of the former Floridian route from CHI to MIA. With Iowa Pacific running the line, who knows what the future will hold but when we see RR lines being returned to service, it is a positive sign. . .


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## niemi24s (Aug 27, 2015)

I don't think the Floridian went through any part of Mississippi:




Took it from CHI to ORL back in 1973 and the Wife still has the ticket book! She's a real pack rat.

Edit: But I have nothing that says that train was named The Floridian. The round trip ticket just says CHI - ORL - CHI (but spelled out)


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## railiner (Aug 27, 2015)

Used to love to hear IC-Amtrak Conductor Woody Vinson regale passenger's traveling that line on the City of New Orleans with the tale of legendary IC engineer 'Casey' Jones, as we traveled by the site of the infamous wreck at Vaughn, Ms.....


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## railiner (Aug 27, 2015)

niemi24s said:


> I don't think the Floridian went through any part of Mississippi:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The IC's Seminole Ltd., and City of Miami, pre-Amtrak trains, left the New Orleans route at Fulton, Ky., and went to Birmingham, and beyond.

Amtrak's early Florida trains briefly started their runs out of Chicago's Central Station on the IC, then at Kankakee used the Big Four (former New York Central subsidiary), to reach Indianapolis...perhaps that's where OP got the idea the train ran on the IC....

Of course over the rest of its life, the South Wind and Floridian went thru a whole bunch of different routes across Indiana in search of decent trackage....but that's another story....


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## TylerP42 (Aug 27, 2015)

This sounds great!


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## xyzzy (Aug 28, 2015)

No, the Floridian was a new name for the South Wind that ran on the L&N south of Louisville, Ky. The route moved around from Louisville north, but it did not change south of Louisville... Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Dothan, Waycross, Jacksonville.

The pre-1995 IC route is a lost cause. IC moved all freight off this route and left it to die on the vine, which it did. There are very few online freight customers and they will continue to be served by stubs. Moving Amtrak onto the IC freight route made good sense.


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## railiner (Aug 29, 2015)

xyzzy said:


> The pre-1995 IC route is a lost cause. IC moved all freight off this route and left it to die on the vine, which it did. There are very few online freight customers and they will continue to be served by stubs. Moving Amtrak onto the IC freight route made good sense.


Like moving the Chief to the Transcon? Sounds familiar......


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