The Central Midland Railway , a division of Progressive Rail Incorporated of Lakeville, Minnesota, was a short line

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, operating under lease of the former St. Louis Subdivision of the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

. CMR operated the easternmost 60 miles (97 km) of the 298-mile (480-km) Rock Island line which used to stretch from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. CMR's operation of the line was performed under two separate leases from the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and the A&K Railroad Materials Corp, respectively, from

Overland, Missouri Overland is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,062 at the 2010 census. History The area south of the King's Road to St. Charles was first settled in the early 1820s, when travelers westward from St. Louis ...

- a suburb of

, to a location just west of

Union, Missouri Union is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Missouri, United States. It is located on the Bourbeuse River, southwest of St. Louis. The population was 10,204 at the 2010 census, with the city showing the highest growth rate (32% ...

. CMR's first leased-segment was Union Pacific's "Lackland Subdivision" which extends from "Rock Island Junction" near the intersection of Page Avenue and I-170 in Overland to a location on the north-side of Creve Coeur Lake in Maryland Heights, Missouri, known as "Vigus." The second leased-segment was owned by A&K Railroad Materials and extends from Vigus to just east of Beaufort, Missouri, with active service terminating at Union.

History

The Central Midland was made up of trackage from the former 18th and 19th subdivisions of the

(CRIP). The line was opened in 1904, and cut across the northern Ozark Mountains from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri. The entire route was 298 miles (480 km) long, and featured several large bridges, as well as four tunnels. On March 31, 1980, the Rock Island ceased all operations as a condition of its bankruptcy, and the line was passed into the hands of the Kansas City Terminal Railroad. Soon after, the line was sold as part of a package deal which included the Kansas City to Tucumcari, New Mexico, "Golden State Route" to the

St. Louis Southwestern Railway The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Ten ...

(SSW). SSW originally had plans to rehabilitate the Rock Island across Missouri as a part of its purchase. However, due to years of deferred maintenance by its previous owner, bringing the line up to modern class 1 mainline standards was deemed uneconomical by the SSW. Instead, the company acquired trackage rights to operate its trains over

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

's (now Union Pacific) parallel St. Louis to Kansas City mainline. SSW never ran a single through-train across Missouri since it acquired the line in 1980, and kept the far eastern segment between Overland, Missouri, to Owensville, Missouri open to local train service only. After the 1993 flood, reopening the line all the way to Kansas City was a possibility SSW briefly looked into, but was quickly decided against given the deteriorated condition of the line and its related infrastructure, combined with the fact that many of the original on-line customers had either closed, moved, or converted to semi-truck for deliveries. From 1993 to 1995, on-line traffic between Owensville and Union declined significantly, and by December 1995, SSW cut train service back further east to Union. SSW then quickly filed a request with the Interstate Commerce Commission (now the Surface Transportation Board) to abandon the route west of Union. However, a lawsuit filed by the "Save The Rock Island Committee" (or "STRICT") resulted in denial of the application, and the rails remained. In 1996, SSW, which was a subsidiary of the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

, officially merged into the

. The entire St. Louis to Kansas City line was now entirely owned and retained by the Union Pacific. To regulate the route's competitive impact on UP's parallel ex-Missouri Pacific St. Louis to Kansas City main line, UP retained ownership of the extreme east and west ends of the Rock Island; specifically, from "Rock Island Junction" in Overland, Missouri, to "Vigus" in St. Louis County on the east, and between Pleasant Hill and Kansas City on the west. UP then sold the remainder of the line to

Ameren Ameren Corporation is an American power company created December 31, 1997, by the merger of St. Louis, Missouri's Union Electric Company (formerly NYSE: UEP) and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPSCO Inc. holding, form ...

, which formed a subsidiary for its railroad known as the "Missouri Central." Union Pacific leased the operation of its eastern 9 miles (14 km), known as the "Lackland Subdivision" to the CMR from Overland to Vigus. From Vigus on west to Union, A&K Railroad Materials (who purchased the line from

(but not the right-of-way)), leased the operation of Ameren's Missouri Central subsidiary to CMR. Union receives rail service on an as-needed basis. From Beaufort west to Leed's Jct. in Kansas City, the rails have been completely removed. In 2019 Ameren donated and the State of Missouri accepted it to be used as the Rock Island State Park Rail trail. On March 1, 2022 the CMR officially ceased operations and was taken over by successor Missouri Eastern Railroad, which is a subsidiary to Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC. Today Since Progressive Rail chose not to pursue the purchase of the line from either Ameren or A&K, the line was sold in November of 2021 to Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC and will be operated as "Missouri Eastern Railroad".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Midland Railway Missouri railroads