The Union Railway of Memphis (URY) was a freight-only switching line surrounding Memphis that for most of its existence was controlled by Missouri Pacific, and performed all freight switching for MoPac in Memphis. There are a few websites run by a gentleman named Mike Condren that contain articles, maps, and a few photos. Other than these, I have had almost no luck obtaining additional information regarding this line. It can be reasonably guessed from MP rosters and builder data that in the diesel era this line was powered by a variety of BLW switchers including VO-660, VO-1000, and S-12, totaling eleven units. It is not clear whether all eleven were in operation at the same time. Following World War II, URY operated some joint trackage with SLSF and IC along the Mississippi River riverfront through downtown from its Georgia Street Yard (now condos) up to its North Yard (now nothing).

A lot of the trackage is still in use, particularly Sargent Yard and east to Aulon then north to Leewood Yard, as well as Sargent Yard and southwest to Harrison (formerly Johnston) Yard. Various segments are apparently still in use for limited industrial switching southwest of downtown (Hershey Foods, Budweiser Memphis, and access to Presidents Island) and north adjacent to the Wolf River (Bunge, ADM, Memphis Hardwood Flooring, and an Owens Corning asphalt shingle plant), these days served by UP and CNIC respectively. A perusal of Google Earth and Bing Maps allows one to identify where a lot of the abandoned and removed trackage was once located. At one time this line seems to have served around one hundred or more industries; now it appears mainly to function facilitating transfer/interchange among the five class-1's in Memphis.

URY is an interesting line. Can anyone here provide more information or point me toward additional sources of information? Thanks! Ric

Hey Ric,

Model Railroader Planning did an article on the Memphis Union Railway. I have to look through my back issues for the article.

Hey Mike - I am totally unaware of that. Thanks. Many of the industries on the URY match well with your track plans, and in fact one of them woke up my interest for URY. I don't even know when URY stopped operating as itself; I lived in Memphis '76-'79 and never took photos . In those days I was mesmerized by the Southern GP-30's with high hoods at Forrest yard. My second time in Memphis ('01-'05) URY was gone but lots of good switching CNIC and UP and BNSF was watchable. URY is not to be confused with MUS (Memphis Union Station).

Memphis remains a fantastic location for trains. It's not bad for trashy music nightlife either.

There is a little progress to report. On the website Memphis Rails (operated by Tom Parker) there is a subcategory entitled IC Track Diagrams. Among them are several for Driving Park, which was north of downtown and was pretty much shared by IC and URY. Driving Park took its name from the early race track located there around the turn of the twentieth century. It quickly turned into a heavily industrialized area more recently known as New Chicago.

There is also on the 'web a first-draft environmental impact statement regarding making approximately 2.4 miles of the abandoned URY along Chelsea Avenue into a "Green Path". It's a hoot to read. If that route ever does get turned into a path, I cannot imagine anyone using it except for urban warfare training with live ammunition. New Chicago is an apt moniker.

URY had its very own Leewood Yard a block away from the CSX nee L&N Leewood Yard, and both function to this day, although nothing like they used to. Going north and west from the URY Leewood Yard, the track currently ends at a large concrete batch plant. It is beyond the concrete plant, beginning between Hollywood and Evergreen Streets the proposed pathway begins. CNIC uses the CSX tracks (parallel to the old URY) between CSX Leewood Yard and Aulon Junction, a distance of approximately 2.7 miles.

I'm still not real clear on when URY ceased operating under its own name, but I believe 1968 was a watershed year. URY was owned by MoPac, and operations were a melange of shared trackage with IC and to a lesser extent Frisco. These days the old URY Leewood Yard is a UP operation, and that is where the Memphis-Little Rock local operates from. Sargent Yard is a very busy interchange between UP, BNSF, and NS.

It's fun trying to piece all this together.