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
Fort Worth, as well as establishing connections with other railroads that served
Fort Leavenworth,
Fort Wallace 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 and Neosho Railroad, 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 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. When the Katy railroad reached Houston, its joint ownership of the
Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad gave it immediate access to the Port of
Galveston and its ocean-going shipping on the
Gulf of Mexico.
Operations A Katy train was robbed by the
Dalton Gang on July 14, 1892, at
Adair, Oklahoma, in what was then Indian Territory. The gang got away after a gun battle. 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 (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,
Stephen F. Austin,
David Crockett, and
James Bowie after prominent men of the state. The city of Parsons was at the crossroads of the mainlines to
St. Louis,
Kansas City, and south to Oklahoma, so it was chosen as the first heavy repair shop site. In 1905 the shops were expanded with a new machine shop 860 by 153 feet in size, blacksmith shop, and storehouse. The primary freight car repair shops were located in
Sedalia, Missouri. After extending the mainline into Texas, shops were established at the new center of the system in
Denison, Texas, however, these were downgraded when a new shop site was built at
Waco, Texas. The Waco Shops were established in 1910 in a section called Bellmead and renamed as the Warden Shops during World War II. Upon transitioning to diesel power, the Warden Shops were closed and diesel maintenance work was concentrated mainly at Parsons.
Merger and legacy , on display in
Parsons, Kansas On August 12, 1988, the
Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac) and its owner,
Union Pacific Corporation, purchased the Katy with approval from the
Interstate Commerce Commission. 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
Union Pacific Railroad 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
Columbia, 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 to the
American Airlines Center. 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 in 1998 for the expansion of
Katy Freeway. 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, the 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.
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, 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), 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 • St. Louis and Kansas City originating trains, south to San Antonio No. 1029 at the
Wichita Falls Railroad Museum ==Company officers==