Jackson to Memphis via Grenada

There is a freight yard on the west side at North Jackson (MP 727.2), at the north end of which there is a wye (speed limit 30 mph) where the Grenada District heads north-northeast, while the Yazoo District turns northwest. From Jackson, MS, to Memphis, TN,  through freights and Amtrak trains used the Grenada subdivision, until around 1996 when the railroad switched through traffic to the Yazoo District.

A north leg of the wye trails in on the west side of the single track, Automatic Block Signals, TPCS line, with speed limit 30 mph at this point, heading north-northeast and passing MP 725.3, where the speed limit increases to 40 mph, Tougaloo (MP 721.8), MP 721.7, where the speed limit increases to 79 mph for passenger trains, 60 mph for TOFC, and 50 mph for all other trains, Ridgeland, the 4,692 ft. east side siding at Madison (MP 716.9), Sloan, Canton (MP 705.7), where the speed limit for TOFC trains drops to 50 mph, but the speed limit for all trains is 30 mph through the town, and the Canton & Carthage railroad used to head east, Davis, where the line turns north, past Way and Vaughan, where it turns northeast past the 2,435 ft. west side siding at Pickens (MP 685.5), with speed limit 10 mph in the siding, a detector at MP 681.7 and Goodman, where it turns north-northeast.

A branch to Kosciusko heads east from a wye on the east side at Aberdeen Junction (MP 673.5), an IC branch once headed west (to the Yazoo City line at Gwin) from the 4,961 ft. east side siding at Durant (MP 670.6), and the main line continues north-northeast past Hoffman, the 2,759 ft. east side siding at West (MP 661.1), and Beatty, turning north past Varden and the 2,423 ft. east side siding at Carroll (MP 648.5), and then just east of due north past the 3,247 ft. east side siding and flat crossing with the Columbus & Greenville at Winona (MP 640.5), where the speed limit is 40 mph through the crossing, curves between MP 638 and MP 634, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph, including Eskridge, where it turns north, a turn to the north-northwest past the 2,429 ft. east side siding at Duck Hill (MP 629.5), Elliott, Glenfield, and Tie Plant, where it turns north, and the 6,113 ft. east side siding at Grenada (MP 617.7), where the speed limit is 30 mph through the town (MP 619 to MP 617) and a branch once headed west to Greenwood on the Yazoo City Line.

There are curves, with speed limit 40 mph, between MP 617 (= MP 492.3) and MP 490, including Memphis Junction where a line to Jackson, TN, once left on the east side (which explains the milepost change), out of which the main line emerges heading just west of due north past Riverdale, W.V. Junction (MP 486.8), where a branch to the Weyerhauser mill at Bruce heads east, MP 485, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph on the curve, Hardy, curves between MP 482 to MP 465.5, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph, including Garner, Scotney, and Tillatoba, where the line turns north, the 3,190 ft. west side siding at Blanche (MP 473.6), Oakland, some substantial s-curves and Enid, curves between MP 462 to MP 453, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph, including the 2,310 ft. west side siding at Pope (MP 459.6), Courtland, a detector at MP 456 and a turn to the north-northeast where the Batesville Southwestern from Crowder once trailed in on the west side, and  the 4,675 ft. west side siding at Batesville (MP 452.1), where the speed limit is 35 mph in the town.

The line turns north across the Tallahatchie River bridge (MP 448.30, speed limit 40/40/10) to Tallahatchie, north-northeast and then just west of due north at the curve between MP 444.2 and MP 444.0, where the passenger speed limit 60 mph, past the 1,925 ft. west side siding at Sardis (MP 442.9), where the passenger speed limit is 65 mph in the town and the Sardis & Delta Railroad once headed west, Como, McGehee, Senatobia (MP 430.0), where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph in the town (MP 430.4 to MP 429.4), the curve between MP 426.2 and MP 426.0, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph, and the 3,195 ft. east side siding at Fannie May (MP 426.1), turning just east of due north at the curve between MP 418.4 and MP 418.0, where the passenger speed limit is 70 mph, past Coldwater, the curves between MP 417.7 and MP 417.3, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph and the line turns north, Love, the curves between MP 417.2 and MP 416.3, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph and the line turns east-northeast and then northwest past the 3,190 ft. west side siding at Hernando (MP 415.4).

The line turns  generally north again at curves between MP 415 and MP 411, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph, past Nesbit, curves between MP 409.2 and MP 403, where the passenger speed limit is 60 mph on the curves, including Alden and Horn Lake, MP 403, where the speed limit drops to 30 mph,  and Southaven, and crosses the state line from Mississippi into Tennessee to reach  Grenada Wye (MP 397.5), where a connector turns away west to the Yazoo City Line,  the freight bypass crosses on the flat, and the passenger route goes north, past East Wye (MP 396.8), where there are connectors in the northwest (from the Yazoo City line) and northeast quadrants,  through the center of town, along the Mississippi River, while the freight line goes around to the east. The Memphis yard, Johnston Yard, is at the south end of the freight bypass, between the Grenada Wye and West Junction on the Yazoo City line.