Pearl River Valley Railroad (1917-2007)

Standard Gauge 30 and 60-lb rail

Headquarters: Picayune, MS (Pearl River County)

Years of Operation: 1917-2007

Miles Operated: 35 in 1928

Locomotives Owned: steam- 2 diesel-1

Also see:

Goodyear Yellow Pine Co.

Rosa Lumber Co.

Equipment: 

 

Click Map for Larger Version

Google Earth Map HERE

History by Gil Hoffman:

The Pearl River Valley Railroad was incorporated in Mississippi on May 22, 1917, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Nicholson, Pearl River County, to Columbia, Marion County, about 60 miles.

On January 29, 1918, the company purchased from Crosby and Rowlands a line of railroad from Nicholson to Emery, 10 miles. Of this line, four miles were built by Crosby and Rowlands and six miles purchased. The purchased segment included 2.5 miles of the abandoned Cybur, Gulf & Northwestern Railroad. The purchase from Crosby and Rowlands also included 13 miles of right-of-way north of Emery. The line from Emery to Delton, five miles, was built by the Crosby & Rowlands Construction Company, under contract, and completed about April 1918. From Delton to a point near Anderson was also built by the C. & R. Construction Company. The distance from Nicholson to the northern terminus near Anderson was 17.335 miles.

The authorized capital stock was $1,000,000 of which the entire amount was issued in 1918 to Crosby and Rowlands in payment for the railroad and equipment.

By February 1921, the railroad had reached Easley, 25.62 miles north of Nicholson. Between MP 13 and 17 the main line had been relocated to secure easier grades and less curves than the original line. This new line displaced 2.62 miles of the original line which was abandoned about June 1921. On the old segment there had been a logging camp, abandoned by the time of the relocation.

In the summer of 1926 the northern terminus was at Crosby, 25 miles from Nicholson. On August 14, 1926, the I. C. C. authorized the Pearl River Valley Railroad to operate under trackage rights over a line owned by the Goodyear Yellow Pine Company from Crosby, in a northerly direction, to Rowlands, Mississippi, 9.64 miles. Rowlands, established by the lumber company at that time, was a logging camp with a population of about 500.

The logging camp at Rowlands replaced one at Anderson which also had a population of about 500. In late 1926, with the camp at Rowlands in operation, the spur from Anderson Junction to Anderson, about 0.44 miles, was abandoned.

Logging operations around Rowlands were completed and the camp at Rowlands abandoned about June 1, 1931. Afterwards the line from Crosby to Rowlands was torn up. Trackage rights on this segment by the P. R. V. were terminated on March 8, 1931.

On February 15, 1935, the I. C. C. authorized the P. R. V. to operate under trackage rights over a line of railroad owned by the Goodyear Yellow Pine Company from Goodyear Junction in a northeasterly direction to a new logging camp, also known as Rowlands, about 22.5 miles, all in Pearl River and Hancock counties. The new logging camp was in section 15 of township 4 south, range 17 west.

With the establishment of new Camp Rowlands, the P. R. V. received permission from the I. C. C. on June 27, 1935 to abandon that part of its line extending from near Goodyear in a northerly direction to Etal, 20.07 miles, all in Pearl River County. Timber in this area had been cut out in July 1931, after which the line was operated at a loss. This section of the railroad had been built during the years 1918 through 1921. Etal was located about 10 miles west of Poplarville.

Logging operations in the vicinity of new Camp Rowlands ceased on March 15, 1938 and April 5, 1938 the P. R. V. applied to the I. C. C. for permission to abandon operation of trackage rights on the line from Goodyear Junction to Rowlands, approximately 22.5 miles. The Goodyear Yellow Pine Company terminated its end of the trackage agreement about April 15, 1938, after which the entire line was removed. The application was granted on May 14, 1938.

The remaining segment of the Pearl River Valley Railroad from Nicholson to Goodyear was operated to service the Crosby Forest Products and various Crosby-owned industries in the western part of Picayune, including Arizona Chemicals, until the line was finally abandoned about 2007. As of 2009, some tracks remain in place but unused and overgrown.

Also see separate pages on Rosa Lumber Co. and Goodyear Yellow Pine Co.

PRV Number 331 was an ex-MKT 2-6-0.

Pearl River Valley 2-6-0 Number 14 came from the Cybur Gulf & Northwestern.

PRV depot and offices in Goodyear on March 15, 1970.

PRV 101 at Goodyear in 1966. 

PRV 101 at Goodyear.

Number 101 at the company shops at Goodyear. Crosby Chemical Co. is in the background.

101 makes its way through the weeds between Nicholson and Goodyear.

101 at Goodyear.

An early view of PRV No. 101 on September 17, 1953. 

 

October 1919 Official Railway Equipment Register- Art Richardson Collection

October 1926 Official Railway Equipment Register- Art Richardson Collection

March 1937 Official Guide of the Railways- Tony Howe Collection

July 1950 Official Railway Equipment Register- Art Richardson Collection

 
STEAM ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:

 

 

 

Road No.

 

Type

 

Builder

 

C.N.

 

Date

 

Cyls.

 

Dri. Dia.

 

Engine

Wt.

 

Previous Ownership

 

Disposition

 

231

 

2-6-0

 

Baldwin

 

7462

 

10/1884

 

19x24

 

52½

 

94700

 

New Orleans & Northeastern #231.

Rebuilt in 1905.

Cybur, Gulf & Northwestern #231, Cybur, MS,

on 2/12/1915.

Pearl River Valley #231, on 1/29/1918.

Baldwin class 8-32 D 91

 

Re. #14.

Scrapped 1955.

 

331

 

2-6-0

 

A/Schen.

 

25087

 

9/1901

 

19x26

 

56

 

131200

 

Missouri, Kansas & Texas 1st #443

Re. #401.

Re. #930.

Re. #1204.

Hyman-Michaels Co., in 5/1924.

Equitable Equipment Co., New Orleans, LA (dealer)

Pearl River Valley #331, ca. 1925.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For more information contact Tony Howe at tonyhowe76@yahoo.com or David S. Price at davidsprice46@gmail.com