History
by Gil Hoffman:
The
Okolona, Houston & Calhoun City Railway was incorporated in
Mississippi on April 17, 1933, by W. N. Ethridge, of West Point; T. A.
Rhodes, of West Point, and Eugene B. Ethridge, of Meridian, with $5,000 in
capital stock. Officers of the company were: W. N. Ethridge, president and
T. A. Rhodes, vice president, secretary and treasurer. On May 15, 1933,
for $30,000 the company purchased from the Southern Railway the branch
line of the Mobile & Ohio running from Okolona through Houston to
Calhoun City, Mississippi, 37.34 miles. Motive power and rolling stock
were purchased on May 16, 1933 from the receiver of the Mobile & Ohio,
consisting of one locomotive, one combination passenger-baggage car and
eight freight cars.
in
1934 a gasoline powered railbus was put into service to carry passengers.
This railbus was rebuilt from an old Greyhound bus at the Jackson,
Tennessee Shops of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.
In
1933 the schedule showed a daily, except Sunday, round trip between
Okolona and Calhoun City. In March 1938, because of decline in business,
the railroad reduced service to two round trips per day by its passenger
railbus and one round trip three times a week by a mixed steam train. Loss
of traffic was attributed to competition from highways.
On
October 27, 1938, the OH&CC applied to the Interstate Commerce
Commission for permission to abandon its entire line. On July 26, 1939 the
I. C. C. decided that if no prospective buyer for the line could be found
within 40 days, abandonment could proceed. No buyer was found, so the line
was abandoned. Operations did not cease until the fall of 1939. Track was
completely torn up by early in 1940, at which time No. 9, the remaining
locomotive, was sold. The company was officially dissolved on January 5,
1940.
The father of James Carlisle, of Amory, Mississippi,
was engineer and superintendent of motive power on the OH&CC. After
abandonment, he went to work for the Mississippian Railway, at Amory,
Mississippi.
REFERENCES
1.
“Okolona, Houston & Calhoun City Railway Company
Operation,” Finance Docket No. 9942, Interstate Commerce Commission
Reports, Vol. 193, p. 89-92.
2. “Okolona,
Houston & Calhoun City Railway Company Abandonment,” Finance Docket
No. 12219, Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Vol. 233, p.
594-600.
For
more information:
See
David Bridges article on the OH&CC in Issue #90 (1999) of the GM&OHS
News.
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STEAM ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:
Road
No.
|
Type
|
Builder
|
C.N.
|
Date
|
Cyls.
|
Dri.
Dia.
|
Engine
Wt.
|
Previous
Ownership
|
Disposition
|
184
|
4-6-0
|
Rogers
|
5605
|
8/1900
|
18x26
|
57
|
129000
|
Mobile
& Ohio #184
Okolona,
Houston & Calhoun City #184,,
on 5/16/1933. Cost $3,000.
|
Scrapped 1939 at Houston, MS.
|
9
|
4-6-0
|
Baldwin
|
43572
|
6/1916
|
18x26
|
52
|
134500
|
Tennessee,
Alabama & Georgia #9
Birmingham
Rail & Locomotive Co.
Mississippi
Eastern Ry. #9, Quitman, MS,
on
2/26/1923.
Okolona,
Houston & Calhoun City #9, ca. 1934.
Baldwin class 10-30 D 657
|
Cornell-Young
Co., by 3/1940.
Buffalo, Union-Carolina #9, Union,
SC.
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