La Plata Missouri Railroad
Renown for an abundance of railroad history dating back to as far as 1827 before the arrival of the Northern Missouri Railroad the La Plata Missouri Railroad founded in 1945 as a replacement passenger and freight depot today serves as a vacation destination for rail enthusiasts and their families.
Interesting Facts About the La Plata Missouri Railroad
• Prior to the construction of the La Plata Railroad station in 1945 plans to build the station were put on hold due to a shortage of construction materials during World War II.
• Between 1996 and 2001 local preservationists restored the once Art Deco style La Plata Railroad station into a model garden and railroad club.
• Between 2013 and 2015 the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation in collaboration with the Texas A&M University, Amtrak and the National Park Service founded the Trails and Rails Program which placed National Park Service volunteers aboard several passenger trains across the United States. These volunteers would provide commentary on people, places, popular attractions and historic facts for passengers traveling between Chicago, Illinois and Winona, Missouri.
• Today in spite of volunteers from the National Park Service no longer offering this service aboard the train, the Trails & Rails reference manual is still available for passengers by way of an Outside The Rails on-board educational program which includes several guide books for passengers traveling on various railroad lines across the United States.
• In July 20, 2015 following the end of it’s partnership with the National Park Service, the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation formally launched it’s Rail Rangers program in an effort to continue providing a similar excursion service to it’s passengers traveling across the Midwestern United States.
View La Plata Missouri RailCams.
Refreshed every six seconds La Plata Missouri Railcams features seven railroad webcams showing Amtrak’s Southwest Chief and BNSF freight trains.