The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive rail network in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1988, it merged with the

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 ...

; today, it is part of

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 ...

. In the 1890s the MKT was commonly referred to as "the K-T", because for a time it was the Kansas–Texas division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and "KT" was its abbreviation in

timetables A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are ...

as well as its stock exchange symbol. This soon evolved into the nickname "the Katy". The Katy was the first railroad to enter

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

from the north. Eventually, the Katy's core system linked Parsons, Emporia, Fort Scott, Junction City, Olathe, and

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

;

, Joplin,

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, Jefferson City, and St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

;

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

; Wagoner; and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

;

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, and Galveston,

. An additional mainline between Fort Worth and Salina, Kansas, was added in the 1980s after the collapse 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 ...

; this line was operated as the

Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad The Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad (OKT) was a railroad operating in its namesake states in the 1980s. OKT I The Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad was originally created on May 29, 1980, after the demise of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pa ...

(OKKT). Former Rock Island trackage rights acquired by the Katy also gave it access to Lincoln and

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and Council Bluffs,

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. At the end of 1970, MKT operated 2,623 miles of road and 3,765 miles of track.

History

Formation and construction

The Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway was incorporated in May 1870 in Junction City, Kansas. The company received government land grants to build a supply railroad connecting the frontier military posts of Fort Riley, Fort Gibson, and Fort Scott; and eventually

, as well as establishing connections with other railroads that served

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...

Fort Wallace Fort Wallace ( 1865–1882) was a US Cavalry fort built in Wallace County, Kansas to help defend settlers against Cheyenne and Sioux raids. All that remains today is the cemetery, but for a period of over a decade Fort Wallace was one of the m ...

and Fort Smith — but its broader ambitions were to connect Chicago and New Orleans. Upon its incorporation, the MK&T acquired the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch (est. 1865) and its of track in Kansas. At the time of its incorporation, consolidations were also made with the Labette & Sedalia Railway Co. and the Neosho Valley & Holden Railway Co.; MK&T also acquired the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Co., the St. Louis & Santa Fe Railroad Co., and the Hannibal & Central Missouri Railroad Co. Combined with the UP Southern Branch, these small, newly built railroads formed the foundation on which the Katy built
In the late 1890s, a subsidiary once called the Missouri-Kansas-Eastern railroad was established to run from existing MKT rails approaching Kansas City into St Louis via the Missouri River basin
Congress had passed acts promising land grants to the first railroad to reach the Kansas border via the Neosho Valley. The Katy portion of the former UP Southern Branch, which had begun building from Fort Riley just north of Junction City, Kansas, was in a heated competition for the prize. On June 6, 1870, Katy workers laid the first rails across the Kansas border, winning the race. Congress' promised land grants were never made, as the courts overturned the grants because the land was in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

and was the property of the Indian tribes. The Katy continued its push southward, laying track through the territory and reaching Texas in 1872, acquiring other small railroads while extending its reach to Dallas in 1886, Waco in 1888, Houston in April 1893, and to San Antonio in 1901. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad bridge over Red River

Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad bridge over Red River

When the Katy railroad reached Houston, its joint ownership of the

Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad was the first railway to operate between Houston and Galveston. Sometimes known as the "Old Reliable Short Line," service commenced around 1859 and operated for 136 years under its original charter. L ...

gave it immediate access to the Port of Galveston and its ocean-going shipping on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Operations

A Katy train was robbed by the Dalton Gang on July 14, 1892, at

Adair, Oklahoma Adair is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 790 at the 2010 census, compared to the figure of 704 recorded in 2000. Named for two prominent Cherokee brothers, the town was established in 1883. It opened a Cheroke ...

, in what was then Indian Territory. The gang got away after a gun battle. In 1896, as a publicity stunt set up by William Crush, the Katy crashed two locomotives head-on, pulling loaded trains, at a site that came to be known thereafter as Crush, Texas. The collision occurred before more than 40,000 spectators, three of whom died (and several were injured) by debris from the exploding boilers.

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

composer and pianist

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

, who was performing in the area at the time, commemorated the event in his piano piece, "The Great Crush Collision March" (which he dedicated to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway). The Katy acquired the Beaver, Meade, and Englewood Railroad in 1931. This trackage, like the length between Altus and Forgan, was abandoned in January 1973. From 1915 until January 4, 1959, the Katy, in a joint venture with the

St. Louis – San Francisco Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

(popularly known as the ''Frisco''), operated the '' Texas Special'' from St. Louis to Dallas, Ft. Worth, and San Antonio. It sported rail cars with names including ''

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

'', '' Stephen F. Austin'', ''

David Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

'', and '' James Bowie'' after prominent men of the state.

Merger and legacy

On August 12, 1988, the

(MoPac) and its owner,

Union Pacific Corporation The Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific) is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of ...

, purchased the Katy with approval from the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

. The merging and restructuring of railroads during the 1980s had cost the Katy much overhead traffic, and it had been seeking a merger partner. On December 1, 1989, the Katy was merged into the MoPac, which is now part of the

system. In the " rails to trails" program, much of the Missouri track line has been adapted for use as the Katy Trail State Park, including a spur to

, a Missouri State Park, which runs along the Missouri River for the major portion of its route. In downtown Dallas, a 3.5-mi-long section called the Katy Trail is being converted into a multiuse trail linking

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

to the

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas St ...

. In 1997, the segment linking Katy, Texas, to downtown Houston was abandoned, and stripped of rails soon after. The section between Katy and Interstate 610 was purchased by the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

in 1998 for the expansion of

Katy Freeway Katy or KATY may refer to: People * Katy, a short form of the name Katherine * Katy (given name) * Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character * Katy Perry Places Serbia * Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no) United States * Katy, ...

. The line that went into Houston was purchased by the city's Parks and Recreation Department. In 2009, it was adapted and paved as the Heights Bike Trail. In

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, the 8.1-mile Katy trail follows an old corridor of the railroad between the northwest edge of downtown Tulsa and its suburb of Sand Springs. As part of a new heritage program, in July 2005, Union Pacific unveiled a new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1988, painted in traditional MKT colors. Katy Limited

Passenger trains

The Katy operated these named passenger trains: (On its main line routes, trains originated in St. Louis or in Kansas City, linking in Parsons, KS, split in

Denison, TX Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. It is south of the Texas–Oklahoma border. The population was 22,682 at the 2010 census. Denison is part of the Texoma region and is one of two principal cities in the Sherman–Den ...

, with sections going via either through Dallas or Fort Worth, linking again in Waco, then heading south to either San Antonio or Houston.) * Train numbers 1 and 2: The '' Texas Special'': ** St. Louis, Missouri - San Antonio, Texas (March 4, 1917 – 1959) jointly with the

St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

), then ** Kansas City-San Antonio (1959-July 26, 1964), then ** Kansas City-Dallas (July 27, 1964 to June 30, 1965) * Train numbers 3 and 4: '' Katy Limited'' ** Kansas City-Dallas, with sections to Oklahoma City, Fort Worth and San Antonio * Train numbers 5 and 6: ''

Katy Flyer Katy or KATY may refer to: People * Katy, a short form of the name Katherine * Katy (given name) * Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character * Katy Perry Places Serbia * Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no) United States * Katy, M ...

'' ** St. Louis and Kansas City originating trains, south to San Antonio * Train numbers 7 and 8: '' Bluebonnet'' ** Kansas City to San Antonio via Dallas, and Kansas City to Houston via Fort Worth * Train numbers 23 and 28: '' Sooner'' ** Kansas City - Oklahoma City

Company officers

Presidents of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad: * Judge Levi Parsons, prior to 1878 * Jay Gould, 1880 * George J. Gould, 1886–1887 * Henry C. Rouse, –1904 * Frederick N. Finney, 1904–1906 * Adrian H. Joline 1906– * Charles E. Schaff, 1912–1926 * Charles N. Whitehead, 1926 * Columbus Haile, 1927–1930 * Michael H. Cahill, 1930–1934 * Matthew S. Sloan, 1934–1945 * Donald V. Fraser, 1945–1956 * William N. Deramus III, 1957–1961 * Charles T. Williams, 1961–1965 *

John W. Barriger III John Walker Barriger III (December 3, 1899 – December 9, 1976) was an American railroad executive; he successively led the Monon Railroad, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad. I ...

, 1965–1970 * Reginald N. Whitman, 1970–1975 * Harold L. Gastler, 1975-1988

References

Bibliography

*Katy Railroad Historical Society,
M-K-T / Katy Frequently Asked Questions
''. Retrieved February 22, 2005. *Museum of the American Railroad,

'. Retrieved January 20, 2008. *Katy Railroad Historical Society,

'. Retrieved January 20, 2008. * *"The Opening of the Great Southwest: A Brief History of the Origin and Development of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Better Known as The Katy" - Published: May 1970 by the M-K-T R.R. Co. *"Miss Katy in the Lone Star State", Steve Allen Goen, 2006 *"The Katy Railroad and the Last Frontier", V. V. Masterson, 1952

External links

Katy Railroad Historical SocietyMap of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway
published 1877, hosted by the Portal to Texas History

- A detailed history of the MKT in Missouri.

at edisaurus.com.

with links to hundreds of photos of MKT locomotives and a humorous story about a Conrail locomotive leased by the Katy.

at the Houston Railroad Museum.
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian TerritoryMKT (Missouri Kansas Texas) Katy Railroad Time Tables
published in 1946, hosted by

Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad Former Class I railroads in the United States Defunct Kansas railroads Defunct Missouri railroads Defunct Oklahoma railroads Defunct Texas railroads Rail lines receiving land grants Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway companies established in 1870 Railway companies disestablished in 1989