NATCHEZ — The last link of the Southwest Mississippi Regional Railroad Authority jumped on board with Adams and Franklin counties Wednesday when the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to join the authority.

The railroad authority was created earlier this year through state legislation and the Adams County Board of Supervisors’ own unanimous vote.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to join the authority exactly one month ago.

“We’re really grateful to have all three counties in a partnership in the formation of this authority,” Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said.

“(Lincoln’s participation) kind of completes the chain.”

Russ said he looks forward to the next step in the process, which is to file papers establishing the authority as an entity with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office and to appoint someone from each county to serve on the authority.

The supervisors adopted the resolution to join the authority after a public hearing on the issue.

The 66-mile stretch of rail runs from the Adams County Port through Adams, Franklin and Lincoln counties before connecting to a Canadian National rail line in Brookhaven.

The railroad has been a source of worry and concern since Canadian National sold the rail line to newly formed entity, Natchez Railway LLC, in 2009.

The new company has deep ties with a railroad salvage company. Although publicly the company has said it has no intention of scrapping the line, some rail customers and sources close to the rail have suggested the company’s actions indicate a different strategy.

Railroad customers and business leaders have said high fees to customers on the line indicate a desire to run off business, potentially to support the company’s possible argument that the line cannot be made profitable.

Russ said the authority was formed as a backstop measure of potential ownership in the event that the current owner decides to start abandonment proceedings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the federal entity that regulates railroads.

“It was also formed as a voice for both the government entities and the users of the rail to have a single voice,” Russ said.

He said concerns of both the carriers who use the line and regulatory bodies will be represented by the authority.

When Canadian National announced the sale to Natchez Railway LLC in May 2009, CN said that the sale terms guaranteed rail service would continue for the two years following the sale.

Exact terms of the sale were not publicly disclosed, however, if a mandatory two-year period were built into the sales contract that agreement likely would expire in June.

In addition to Adams and Franklin county, a number of other local governments and other entities have issued support for the railroad authority, including:

City of Natchez, Amite County Board of Supervisors, Town of Gloster, Claiborne County Board of Supervisors, City of Port Gibson, City of Meadville, Town of Roxie, Lincoln County Board of Supervisors, City of Brookhaven, Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors, Concordia Parish Police Jury, City of Vidalia, Concordia Economic and Industrial Development District, Natchez Inc., Mississippi Public Service Southern District Commissioner Leonard L. Bentz, Mississippi Public Service Central District Commissioner Lynn Posey.