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Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad, was originally chartered by the Missouri State Legislature to built a 216-mile rail connection from Louisiana on the Mississippi River to Kansas City, with a 50-mile branch from Mexico to Cedar City, on the Missouri River opposite Jefferson City. On 1 August 1870 the line was leased to the Chicago & Alton Railroad for a period of 999 years. By 1872 the section from Louisiana to Mexico had been constructed. At this point the decision was made to abandon plans for a separate line from Mexico to Kansas City and to leave this to the Chicago & Alton. The company was thus left with a line of 101.59 miles from Louisiana to Cedar City. The Mexico to Cedar City section of the line was completed in 1876. The Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad eventually came under the control of the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The Mexico to Louisiana section of the line is still in use by the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The Mexico to Fulton section was abandoned by the Kansas City Southern, but in 2007 was taken over by the Ozark Valley Railroad, headquartered in Mexico, and is now operating once more as a freight line. The operating company is named Ozark Belt and operates two EMD GP7 and two GP30 diesel locomotives, painted in a distinctive dark blue and orange livery.
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| Mao of the Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad |
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| Bridge over the Auxvasse Creek on the Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad |
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| Chicago & Alton Railroad bridge over the Mississippi at Jouisiana. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons |
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| Louisiana station, Chicago & Alton Railroad |
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