Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad

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Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company
Reporting marks	YMV
Locale	Jackson, MS to Yazoo, MS
Dates of operation	1882–1945
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Chicago, IL

The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company (Y&MV) was incorporated in 1882 and was part of the Illinois Central Railroad system (IC). Construction began in Jackson, Mississippi, and continued to Yazoo City, Mississippi. The line was later expanded through the Mississippi Delta and on to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1982, the IC bought the Memphis-New Orleans Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad and they later purchased the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad. These lines were merged it into the Y&MV.

Between 1945 and 1946 the IC began to absorb its subsidiaries and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad ceased to operate as an independent railroad.

[edit] Historic marker

The Mississippi Blues Commission placed a historic marker at the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad depot site in Rosedale, Mississippi, designating it as a site on the Mississippi Blues Trail. The marker commemorates the original lyrics of legendary blues artist Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" which traced the route of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad which ran south from Friars Point to Rosedale among other stops, including Vicksburg and north to Memphis. The marker emphasizes that common theme of blues songs was riding on the railroad which was seen as a metaphor for travel and escape.^[1]