The Mississippi Railway steam locomotive #203 had received work in Mobile, Alabama sometime back in the latter part of the 1980s. Charlie Ake captured this view of the steamer and its train as it was crossing the Bay St. Louis Bridge in Mississippi on the way back to its home in Port Bienville. The rather ragtag train consists of an auxiliary tender, an Illinois Central baggage car, the Southern Railway coach Leaf River, and a private car The Survivor.

At this time the little railroad was hosting weekend steam excursions, running between an industrial park (Port Bienville) and its connection to the nearby CSX Railroad (formerly The Family Lines / L&N). Eventually forced out of the port, the operation moved over to Meridian, Mississippi where the equipment was essentially stored (I don’t think anything turned a wheel while there). Then an agreement was struck with the Columbia and Silver Creek Railroad and the railroad moved to their trackage. While a small bit of trackage work was done on a very small portion of the line, I don’t recall the railroad ever getting into operation while there. In 1995 the steamer was purchased by the Gulf and Ohio Railway and she was rebuilt for service on the Three Rivers Rambler, an excursion train line running out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

A bit more of her history can be seen on Three Rivers Rambler website.