All of this shows the big difference between south Mississippians and the folks in New Orleans. In Mississippi, it's self pride, help yourself, help each other. In New Orleans, it's "Who is going to give me something now?"

The trains running are absolutely great news. I was in Waveland at the beginning of November to gut my aunt’s house. We were planning on starting the rebuild this spring, primarily due to the lack of supplies. With the trains running again, maybe they can bring in the building supplies needed to start rebuilding at a reasonable price. What sheetrock could be found, in November, was double the price that you would pay in north Mississippi.

Most people that have been impacted by this storm were robbed by their insurance companies, many jobs were lost, and money is scarce. With these things in mind, I would suggest that some of the $80b dollars, that President Bush says is allocated to recovery, be used to insure that building materials are available at a reasonable price!

God bless all the volunteers that have helped so many people. The struggle would be so much greater without you.

Granny,Indiania....don't just visit south M.S. but the north of M.S. too....by your comments...i think all of MISSISSIPPI could be blessed by a lovely lady!

I just got back from visitng the coast after I found my two story brick home that was a block off the beach in Pass Christian completely destroyed after the storm nearly six months ago. With nothing but a slab left, we were lucky. We had somewhere to go, but I have missed my friends back home.

I am amazed and awestruck at the hard work that has gone on along the coast, but there is so much more to do that at this point, CSX is the least of my worries! At this time it is conforting to hear their insessant whistles; they are a reminder of normalcy, but I agree that these tracks need to be moved. They are a hazard to the community. Harrison County is the highest populated (or atleast it was before the storm) county in Mississippi. Why in the world would anyone want to continue to ship hazardous materials though such a populated area? Not to mention the fact that mortality rates at railroad crossings are the highest in Harrison County as well.

These are just a couple of very good reasons to include moving the tracks north in the comprehensive plan to rebuild. They are a nuisance to an otherwise quiet, peaceful and relaxing area. I can't wait to get back home and it sure would be nice not to have to hear a half dozen whistles every time one of those 35 huge freight trains go by every day! Gosh, that's 210 ear shattering, window shaking whistles in 24 hours!!!! Think about it!

Jo, from The Pass

P.S. Words can't thank people enough for all the help and support they have given to the Gulf Coast. You will never be forgotten! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

this tragedy has made many people from all over HONORARY MISSISSIPPIANS...ya'll come back...because your always welcome

Not all people in New Orleans are waiting for the government to help them. Many people have been working hard to restore their lives for months now. It is sad that New Orleans is being talked about negatively because of some bad seeds.

PLEASE READ: It is a shame that grown people will sit around and wait.... instead of getting up and deciding to do something meanful today to improve themselves. Should you want to improve your life and your neighbor's, you must have a plan in mine and go ahead and try it out and see the result. Should you fail rewrite the plan and try again. Whatever you have accomplish will encourage you try again and again. Whatever you build...you start from ideas of your own or adopt someone elses. Go out and to charge of your own destiny. Please act and your life will be changed forever! 0111,Houma, Louisiana (Sent Feb 16, 2006 12:20 AM)

I am a national guardsman from south Mississippi. I would like to commend all my fellow guardsmen, regardless of what state they hail from. We had so much wonderful help from around the country it would be impossible to thank them individually but I would like to send out one great big collective thank you to all volunteers who assisted my state in it's time of need. Also, special thanks to my MS guardsmen who, even though all had suffered some loss and many lost everything, still put their own situations aside to serve their fellow citizens. Keep the faith, South Mississippi, soon you'll be known as the "Pheonix" coast.

When in BSL last December, I was amazed at the progress the CSX folks were making toward getting the train bridge up and running. On the other hand, absolutely no progress seemed to have been made on the route 90 bridge that residents need to connect them to Pass Christian, their work and/or homes. I am thankful that the train bridge seems ready to go, as I know it is desperately needed to open up that transportation lane and move supplies. I am saddened, however, that our government is so far behind private industry. Last I read, the vehicl bridge had been bid out...any other progress there?

Despite what is being shown on national TV re New Orleans (Katrina), the vast majority of tax paying citizens are struggling mightly to restore their lives, homes, families and jobs. The majority are not waiting for a free handout. Trouble is, we do not make good evening news (we were not in the convention center or superdome - we followed instructions and evacuated) - we are just boring folks going about our everyday jobs and business and trying to keep a stiff upper lip while we are juggling our elderly parents and children that have been displaced, trying to balance our checkbooks despite the insurance companies that have refused to honor our flood and homeowners policies. We are not having fun. We have lost family members, our homes, possessions, friends, jobs and a way of life that most folks would envy.

paul...thank you for being there for us when you were needed.....man thats cool

The Gulfside Methodist Assembly has served as a gathering place since the late 1920's near Waveland,Ms. I grew up going to the beach there and learning about the power of God's grace through youth and family retreats. My grandfathers and grandmothers(from Kemper and Neshoba counties,MS) along with hundreds of African Americans from MS & TX raised money and hammers to build Gulfside and keep it going thru the years.

It has been a place where African Americans and European Americans have come together for good. I pray it will be rebuilt soon.
The people in Waveland were always nice to my family through our generations. I will join a work team from our church in Atlanta as soon as we are told to come help rebuild Gulfside (by the national Methodist Church leadership). This safe haven on the coast has brought people together and is an American historic site.

hey vern did you go to gulfport job corp

Jan - you will be happy to know that Gulfside is currently being used to house the C.A.R.E. group (living in tents and trailers). This group is awesome and is helping me rebuild my home. They are helping so many citizens get back in their homes so rest easy knowing that although there are no buildings remaining at Gulfside, it is still be used as a place where people are "coming together for good", as you stated!

I'm so happy to hear the trains again! we lived just north of the tracks in Pass Christian, and i just lived for the sounds of the train. I'm hopeful that the CSX tracks will go north of I-10, and the current CSX tracks will become a trolley line, from Bay St. Louis to Pascougoula. This way we can have a great way to avoid the traffic on 90, and this will contribute to the re-growth of the coast.

Why do some of yall want to more 90 North?? You have interstate 10 to the north. 90 is also out between Biloxi and Ocean Springs. I spend a week in Ocean Springs with C.O.R.E. and heard the trains run at night.

Driving toward the beach at twilight on Main Street we heard the train. Listening closely, we determined that we and the train were going in the same direction. Yeah...had to go all the way to that cavern at Beach Blvd. and stop the car and watch the most amazing post Katrina sight...a lit engineer's cab emerging from behind the old bank building and starting across the moon lit Bay on brand new tracks on a brand new train bridge. Standing there next to the "old town" Christmas tree still holding twinkling tinsel, listening to the train blow its whistle all the way across the Bay I cried. Hope shows itself in BSL every day in small ways - I just try to recognize them and appreciate them. Yeah "Da Train" is back, but remember "Da Beach House". Rejoice in progress. But let's remember to honor the old.

I live in a Fema trailer in Bay St. Louis. My home in Pass Christian was destroyed and while I wait for the insurance companies to come to their senses, I can tell you that train whistle at night is sure a beautiful sound. As a transplant from Southern California (I came out to fish) may I say that I never want to live anywhere other than Mississippi. The people are great and the food is outstanding. The fishing is pretty damn good too. My eyes were opened when I had a flat shortly after moving here. The first person to stop and ask if I needed help was a black man, the second person was a white man. So much for racial stereotypes. I have seen less racism here than in California.
I am amazed at how quickly we have been forgotten out there in the rest of the States. As I travel around the country it is obvious that we have been put on the back shelf. Speak out. Let your voices be heard. Write letters to your elected reps and raise hell.

gus man you said a mouthfull.........many of our state elected officials should be closely scrutionized....before we vote again...and i'm ready to raise hell....with my vote!!!!

Move the CSX tracks up-county if you must (and it would probably be a good idea, for the safety of those who have to cross the tracks. I have seen a train-vs-auto collision) but leave Hiway 90 on the edge of the beach...I always drive the beachfront highway instead of I-10 when I come home to Mississippi. Take the scenic route even with traffic delays, & savor the extra time you are allowed...it is a gift from God! I work on an island where all the beachfronts are hidden by "monster homes" - no $$, no view! Don't sell our state's beaches to the high-rollers!

I lived two blocks north of the tracks in Long Beach, just west of the Gulfport/Long Beach line. I can remember when we first moved into that house. It was about 2 months after the Biloxi River flooded in the 90's. My wife and I complained about the noise from the late nite trains for weeks. Then we got used to them. Then we came to expect them. There was one train that came through around 2-2:30am and when it would blow its whistle every cat in my house (5) would run & jump up on our bed like they were being chased wild dogs. Woke both of us up. Then we would all settle back to sleep on that huge king-size bed til morning. My whole family. Together. At home on the Coast. How's that for an impact of the railroad on one's family?
The same old hustle and bustle will be back soon enough. Take time now to remember who we are and where we come from. What's important and what isn't any big deal. When that 2am whistle blows be grateful all your family is around to hear it and pray for those that aren't.

i live less than half a mile from the track ...most mornings at about 5:03...i hear the train...roll over and think ...I CAN LAY HERE A LITTLE WHILE LONGER.....thats normal...i hope those sounds make others feel more normal also

I live in Colorado Springs Colorado. On Apr.1st I will leave my warm bed and wife for my second trip to the coast. I will work for 2 weeks as a volunteer in Biloxi helping people with clean up re-roofing houses and many other chores.This is where I will spend my vacations and money for the next couple of years. The coast needs as many helpers as they can get.Everyone should pitch in a help in any way they can. Don't send money to the Red Cross(very high overhead) send it to other donation sights. One being Lurtheran Disaster Response and the Bethel Lurtheran church of Biloxi Mississippi. Send donations to Bethel Lurtheran Church and mark for Katrina.Even better send them a gift card from Home Depot or Lowe's. I know for a fact that that every dollar will go for disaster recovery.Join me in Apr.and spend time on the once again sunny coast. I am not affiliated with the church or the LDR.I am however someone that cares and wants to help. Joe

Move the tracks?

The tracks were just about the only thing left, and they are now fixed. Move the highway? Asside from the bridges, it is fixed. What's Left? HMMMM the Houses!

You do not have to live right next to the railroad tracks, when you rebuild, you can select a piece of property that is further north, but not too far north or you will be on the other freeway.

Oooohhh, but now you are too far from your place of work...take a guess WHY the town is Built up where it is! THE RAILROAD!

The Railroad could be used to help build up the Dikes dams and seawalls that are desperately needed along the gulf coast. Houses cannot.

In conclusion, if you don't like the railroad, move to some place where it isn't. Lobby your local governement to get underpasses and verpasses funded to bypass the railroad. Given the present expansion of the railroads, it is highly likely they will not move or expand ANYTIME in the next 50 years in your immediate area!

Otherwise, Recognize the Golden Goose for what it is: Tax revenue, GOOD Jobs, and Affordable Comodities.

I volunteered to work in Pass Christian from Thanksgiving weekend to the end of January. It was interesting and refreshing to see many people take charge of their lives and do things for them selves. Income level did not seem to apply as I saw this all over the city. However It did disturb me to see people of great means patiently accepting handouts from faith based and government organizations. I understand that these people also lost belongings and had damage to their property. Also being a lifetime taxpayer should entitle them to some kind of relief. Howewver there does seem some inequity in the system when you are doing storm damage work for people who are living in million dollar homes and drawing 100K+ retirements.
I truly feel for the people of Pass Christian because it was kinda magical when the Super Happy Ice and then the Shell station reopened. This may not seem like much to people on the outside. Trust me when you are there 7 days a week 12 hours a day any stirrings of normalacy are like WOW things are improving even if it is a little bit at a time. When we talked to people that were in Camilia they explained to us that it took years for the area to recover and the devastation was not nearly as bad.
When people asked us if it looked as bad as a war zone we told them it was far worse than Iraq ever thought about being simply because there was nothing left. Almost everything was gone and what was left was severly damaged.
People should remember when they are bashing the organizations that are trying to help them that CSX with a single goal of restoring the railroad took almost 5 months just to repair what was left. Imagine how long it would have been if they were building anew.