The 90's and Beyond In 1996, Union Pacific finally abandoned the southern Sedalia stub of the old MKT trackage, which ran from the UP mainline (north of the Katy Depot) to the MFA complex on the south end of town. Referred to in UP timetables as the "Campbell Stub", the sole customer on the line was the MFA elevator (which only received a few cars per year), and Sutherland's Lumber. Sutherlands built a new (off-line) mega-store on U.S. 65 in 1996, and then closed it's smaller MKT-served store on U.S. 50. After traffic to the MFA elevator dropped off, UP threw in the towel and removed the tracks, donating the right-of-way to the State for the Katy Trail. Trail advocated had long wanted UP to abandon this segment, being it created a gap in the trail route. The north segment (Alcolac Stub) to the old Rhone Puelanc plant was kept in place to store surplus rail cars. UP wanted to retain the line to serve the chemical plant, should a new owner reopen it. The factory was shut down in the early 1990's after two major chemical leaks (that made national headlines and forced community evacuations) forced the plant to discontinue operations. UP finally gave up hope of the plant opening back up- and ripped out the track in 2000. The roadbed was donated for the Trail. Operations Today Today, MNA continues to operate an as-needed local turn to Clinton, or as far as traffic dictates the need to travel. Frequency varies by month and season, but is usually every 5-10 days. Trains on the once-40 m.p.h. mainline between LaDue and Clinton now trundle along the rusty, weedy, decrepit track at 10 m.p.h. The only remaining rail customer in Clinton is and Lowe Champion, which is located near the old Frisco junction along the remaining north end of the old Frisco line (receives tank cars). Up until the 90's the Farmers Elevator and Rival Mfg. still received cars. The elevator switched to trucks and Rival closed down (Lowe Champion has been served by a team track near the old Frisco yard; the company moved into the Rival plant when it closed). It is indeed a sad sight to see how far Clinton has fallen from its days as a railroad junction with numerous rail-served industries. MNA has made it known that it will continue to operate to Clinton only until the tracks rot to the point of needeing a major investment. In 2005 the railroad reached an agreement with the city, and all crossing signals in town were taken out of service and replaced with crossbucks. Several smaller grain elevators and industries along the way in (such as the ones in Montrose and Appleton City) continue to ship and receive various goods by rail. Most of these are agriculture-related industries that ship and receive only during the spring, summer and fall. However, the lifeblood of the old St. Louis Division is the KCPL power plant at LaDue. Trains operate several times per month from Nevada to the plant, which is located on a three-mile long spur off the "mainline" at LaDue. In 1998, KCPL constructed a new balloon track and rotary-dump unloading facility in order to more quickly and efficiently unload trains. With this kind of investment, KCPL will probably keeping the old MKT St. Louis Division busy for many more years to come. Next >>