On July 1, 1903, the MJ&KC leased the
Gulf & Chicago Railroad. This line came into being after buying the
Ship Island, Ripley & Kentucky (from Middleton, Tennessee 25 miles to Ripley, Mississippi), and the northern division
Gulf & Ship Island line between Ripley and Pontotoc (37 miles). In 1906, about the time the railroad route was completed, the company went into bankruptcy. By March 1907 there were 402 miles of tracks and 154 sawmills along the route. In 1909, after coming out of receivership, the MJ&KC and Gulf & Chicago Railroad merged to form the
New Orleans, Mobile & Chicago Railroad. A 1917 reorganization resulted in the forming of the
Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad (GM&N). In 1929 the Meridian & Memphis and the Jackson & Eastern railroads merged into the GM&N. In 1933 the GM&N leased the
New Orleans and Great Northern Railroad (NOGN). From 1935 through 1937 the line ran three
Rebel streamlined diesel-electric trains between
New Orleans, Louisiana, and
Jackson, Tennessee. In 1940 the GM&O merged with the Mobile & Ohio (M&O) forming the
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. ==List of towns==