TISHOMINGO, Miss. — An unprecedented January ice storm has complicated the efforts of a start-up short line railroad looking to restore freight service in rural northern Mississippi.
Jeremy Funderburk, president of the North Mississippi & Alabama Railroad, and his work crew and equipment, have been putting in 10-hour workdays to chew through thousands of downed trees after much of the area experienced more than one inch of ice in late January.
The 42-mile short line spans from Corinth, Miss., south to Red Bay, Ala. While the railroad doesn’t have active freight service today, the start-up, which assumed operations in January 2025, has spent the past year clearing vegetation and installing about 2,000 crossties in preparation of bringing freight back.
Now those efforts have been challenged. The brunt of the damage is from near the railroad’s midpoint at Paden, Miss., north toward Corinth, making about 20 miles of track impassable still weeks later. The rural nature of the railroad and limited grade crossings has also made access difficult, with the team relying on drones to survey track conditions.
Funderburk says what started out as a downed tree every 40 feet has deteriorated to complete inaccessibility.
“When you get toward Corinth, you literally can’t take a step,” he says.
The railroad is optimistic that a recent disaster area declaration by the federal government will allow it to tap into federal resources for debris removal with the support of the right-of-way owner, the Mississippi-Alabama Railroad Authority, which purchased the railroad from Norfolk Southern in 1995.
Funderburk says this assistance is crucial to getting the railroad open. Since assuming operations in 2025, the railroad has poured a significant amount of its own dollars into repairs, as well as receiving funds from the State of Mississippi. Other grant applications submitted before the disaster are also in progress.
The railroad has garnered strong support from area businesses who would like to ship by rail again. This includes Sunshine Mills, a feed company which briefly provided service when the line was between operators, as well as new shippers, transload opportunities, and car repair and storage. The railroad, which has seen several operators since being sold by NS, hasn’t moved freight since poor track conditions resulted in a 2022 freight embargo.
“The good thing this rail line has going for it is big rail. It has a 115 [-pound] mainline rail,” says Funderburk, who also says underneath the downed trees is a good roadbed.
Funderburk, who has spent his career in shortline railroading and railroad contract work, says failure is not an option, pointing to the resiliency of smaller railroads.
“I’m going to keep going,” he says. “It doesn’t matter, I’m in too deep.”
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This is an example of what could happen to any RR in the SE USA. All the ROWs look the same with pine trees leaning over even main lines.