Starkville Greenway Update

[The Maroon Pug]

Looks like Spruill is still pushing it forward. Good for her, Starkville, West Point, Ackerman, etc. for working towards something that can bring a huge economic impact for the Golden Triangle area.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Many of my Hattiesburg friends love Longleaf Trace.

More rails to trails is a good thing.

 

[patdog]

Many of my Hattiesburg friends love Longleaf Trace.

More rails to trails is a good thing.

I've ridden that once. It's pretty awesome. Flat and straight through some pretty scenery. I thought it was perfectly flat on my ride out, but when I turned around I was able to go up a couple of gears. Only then I realized I had been biking up a very gradual uphill grade and was now biking downhill.

 

[LandArchDawg]

Looks like Spruill is still pushing it forward. Good for her, Starkville, West Point, Ackerman, etc. for working towards something that can bring a huge economic impact for the Golden Triangle area.

My old firm did the master planning and initial phases of the Razorback Greenway. That project has been a boon for NW Arkansas for years.

 

[johnson86-1]

Many of my Hattiesburg friends love Longleaf Trace.

More rails to trails is a good thing.

This is probably a stupid question, but what was the purpose of all these abandoned rails? Were they just shortlines going to plants or industrial centers that no longer exist?

 

[Dawgbite]

Once upon a time every town had to have a RR spur to be a viable option for industry. Container shipping kinda eliminated the need for all these spurs.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

This is probably a stupid question, but what was the purpose of all these abandoned rails? Were they just shortlines going to plants or industrial centers that no longer exist?

I'm no expert but this paragraph makes some sense to me (It's from this Rails to Trails organization page.):

The rail-trail movement would see its formal birth with the opening of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in 1965 and the opening of the Illinois Prairie Path soon thereafter. In 1980, the U.S. Congress passed the Staggers Rail Act, which largely deregulated the nation’s struggling railroad industry and allowed for the discontinuation of unprofitable routes. This prompted the abandonment of 4,000 to 8,000 miles of lines each year throughout the early 1980s. In 1983, Congress became concerned about the potential permanent loss of thousands of miles of rail corridor and amended the National Trails Systems Act to create “railbanking,” a tool to preserve inactive corridors for future rail use, while providing for interim trail use.

 

[mstateglfr]

Really neat to see. A 45mi trail that runs from West Point, Starkville, Longview, Sturgis, and into Ackerman would be really neat.
And since its 25mi between Starkville and Ackerman, hopefully Sturgis will see some business from people wanting to get food/drink.

And the tracks between Sturgis and Ackerman look really cool- far off the road and in the middle of the woods with some turns.

 

[peewee.sixpack]

W

I've ridden that once. It's pretty awesome. Flat and straight through some pretty scenery. I thought it was perfectly flat on my ride out, but when I turned around I was able to go up a couple of gears. Only then I realized I had been biking up a very gradual uphill grade and was now biking downhill.

When I did triathlons we would take a group from Vicksburg and ride the Longleaf a few times a year. Typically started in Bassfield and did an out and back. Then ate at Wards afterwards.

 

[The Maroon Pug]

Really neat to see. A 45mi trail that runs from West Point, Starkville, Longview, Sturgis, and into Ackerman would be really neat.
And since its 25mi between Starkville and Ackerman, hopefully Sturgis will see some business from people wanting to get food/drink.

And the tracks between Sturgis and Ackerman look really cool- far off the road and in the middle of the woods with some turns.

So I mapped it out the railway on Strava during lunch break, one way from West Point to Ackerman is right under 39 miles. West Point (Starting at Anthony's on Main St.) to Boardtown Bikes is ~14 miles. Doing the full out & back from West Point to Ackerman would get you 2781ft of elevation gain.

 

[mstateglfr]

So I mapped it out the railway on Strava during lunch break, one way from West Point to Ackerman is right under 39 miles. West Point (Starting at Anthony's on Main St.) to Boardtown Bikes is ~14 miles. Doing the full out & back from West Point to Ackerman would get you 2781ft of elevation gain.

So 0.68% grade over the length of the out and back. Makes sense- rail line.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Looks like Spruill is still pushing it forward. Good for her, Starkville, West Point, Ackerman, etc. for working towards something that can bring a huge economic impact for the Golden Triangle area.

There is some new hope this may get done with CP’s recent acquisition of Kansas City Southern (owner of current rail line)

I would love to see it happen, and somehow link in to the Tanglefoot Trail that currently runs from Houston to New Albany

 

[L4Dawg]

I rode on the Tanglefoot a bit when I used to play at bike riding. I wish it was closer to where I live.

 

[maroonmadman]

That is part of the old IC line that ran from West Point to near Durant and the main north/south IC line. The line from Ackerman to Durant has been abandoned for years. It would be really nice if they could acquire the entire length of the line, that way they could connect to the Natchez Trace just outside of Kosciusko and tie that into the biking infrastructure. You could then peddle from Jackson to Starkville without putting yourself at too much risk. There has been talk, in the Kosciusko area, of acquiring that line from KO to Durant for biking/hiking purposes.

 

[atomic dawg]

This is probably a stupid question, but what was the purpose of all these abandoned rails? Were they just shortlines going to plants or industrial centers that no longer exist?

I don’t know if this will answer your question about the overall plan and it’s been a few years since I looked into it but I followed the Starkville railroad as best I could on Google Maps one time and it looked like it ran parallel to highway 15 for most of the way. Starting in Laurel and then went to Tupelo so I’m guessing it was used to haul lumber for furniture. I know the Borden plant in Starkville used it until at least 2004. So I guess it was industrial primarily.

 

[garddog]

There would have to be a trail made north between 12 and 82 to connect up to Houston. Old IC line stopped at Ackerman, then went east or west.

 

[garddog]

Looking at it, there would be about a 10 mile trail addition from Ackerman to Chester which is right by the Natchez Trace to connect up.