2 minute read
There's a Track Star on the MSR
“He’s assembled the best track team I’ve ever seen in all my years of railroading.”
That’s what Mississippi Southern Railroad (MSR) General Manager Michael Goss said about Roadmaster Devin Jurs. Goss would know. He’s been in the rail industry for 20 years.
Jurs came to the MSR from the Boise Valley Railroad in 2020 as a track foreman. His initiative and knowledge quickly led to his promotion to roadmaster, overseeing maintenance on all 156 track miles in eastern Mississippi.
Jurs went all-in, familiarizing himself with the track and location. His efforts have reduced track team turnover and track-caused derailments. He also helped organize visits for the government officials who ultimately awarded the MSR state-funded short line railroad grants.
“He basically started from scratch,” said Goss. “Today, he has a finely tuned team that looks for issues and fixes them before they become problems. Because he knows the track so well, he was able to easily show the state officials where we needed help and why.”
That’s where Jurs exceeds the requirements of his regular duties. Recently, a customer doubled the amount of railcars shipped on the MSR. As a result, the customer began having track issues. Since the customer owns the track inside their facility, the MSR isn’t responsible for maintaining it. However, Jurs and his team saw the customer’s need and stepped up. They took time to help repair bad rail and educate them on what to look for to avoid issues in the future.
“Devin went above and beyond to help our customer make sure they could ship their products safely,” Goss said. “It’s a classic example of Watco’s customer-first focus and doing more than is asked of him and his team.”
