Central Midland Railway

The Central Midland Railway runs on the former Rock Island St. Louis Subdivision from near Kansas City, MO to Rock Island Junction, near St. Louis Missouri. The line was originally built by the St. Louis & Western in 1887 to link St. Louis with Kansas City and points west. The Rock Island operated the line until their bankruptcy in 1980, although some mystery surrounds the date of the last train, as the line was in such poor condition, it is possible the last through train ran in 1979.

In 1980 the Southern Pacific took over operation of the line, with initial intent to upgrade the entire route from St. Louis, Missouri to Tucamcari, New Mexico, however, because of trackage rights granted to SP as a condition of the UP / MP merger, the SP found no reason to operate the line as a through route between St. Louis and Kansas City. SP operated a local between Lackland Yard and Owensville until the mid 1990s, then cut back their operations westward to Union, MO. In addition to the local, SP also ran a coal train generally once a week from April 1990 to July 1995 to Union Electric’s generating plant at Labadie, MO. This train operated over the UP’s Sedalia Subdivision into St. Louis, then on the TRRA from Gratiot Tower to Rock Island Junction, and west on the SP to Labadie.

The 1996 merger of the SP into Union Pacific resulted in UP’s continued operation of the line. Unit coal trains to Union Electric were discontinued as UP already had access to Labadie via their Sedalia Sub. UP ran a local to Union as well as a yard switcher to work various industries in Maryland Heights and near Lackland Yard. UP leased the line from Vigus to Pleasant Hill, MO in 2000 to a newly formed railroad, the Missouri Central. Original power for MOC was leased EMD GP7, Midwest Locomotive (MWLX) 2017. The only unit named for Missouri Central, MOC GP7L 1800, came to the railroad in late 2000.

• From I-270 North or South: take Exit 16A (Page Ave.).
• Take Page Ave. to Schuetz Rd.: Make a left onto Schuetz Rd.
• Take Schuetz to Adie Rd.: Make a right onto Adie Rd.
• Follow Adie Rd. to the railroad tracks.

• From I-270 North or South: take Exit 16A (Page Ave.).
• Take Page Ave to North Warson Rd.: Make a right onto N. Warson Rd.
• Follow N. Warson Rd. to the railroad tracks.

Adie Road Location

Lackland Yard