Last Katy Train on bridge at Boonville, MO

This is a video segment one of the last trains to cross the Boonville, Missouri Katy RR Bridge. Shot in 1986 by Wayne Lammers when The Katy RR was in negotiations with the Union Pacific RR. This video shows the bridge from different angles and the bridge operator C. D. Gregory. I was called by The Katy Engineer, Dennis Huff, who advising me that this would be the last train to cross the Boonville Katy Bridge. Since then the City of Boonvile has taken possession of the bridge and are in the process of converting it to be a large part of the Katy Trail. The bridge was built in 1931-32 as MKT Bridge No. 191.1 by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad to replace an 1873 MKT much lighter structure. It has four trusses over the water and a vertical 408 foot span lift in the middle, and was constructed by Kansas City Bridge Company (substructure), American Bridge Company (superstructure), and General Electric Company (electric installation). The bridge is still operational but is in need some repair.

[@KiddBloo86]

The long horn at the end was a heartbreaking goodbye.

[@alcopower5710]

Yeah.....that was tough to hear.

[@MrGoodnplenty1957]

man, i remember those Katy trains going thru my hometown of Sedalia, MO. saw them crossing this bridge a few time when i would visit friends in Boonville. thanks for the memories.

who admits they are from Sedalia?

[@stanleepatterson95]

You might know my buddy who worked for the katy out of sedalia? Sam moore

[@lindahendrix340]

I grew up in Franklin and loved the sounds of the trains going through and switching in the train yard. I miss it all. When I hear the whistles blow I am taken back to my childhood, love that sound and those times.

[@JawTooth]

That is awesome that someone filmed the last train over the bridge. There is a railroad near me that closed in the seventies and I cannot find any videos of it.

[@rustyshackleford6637]

Where the the hell is it

[@UNIONPACIFIC3606]

@ 3:15 in the late 70's and 80's i used to love going outside and hearing those Leslie's, such a beautiful sound!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ethanpeters9184]

What kind of Leslie Horne was that I have an HO scale train and I'm trying to find the correct sound for my dcc engine I have the Leslie rst5 I don't think that is right what Leslie horn should I put on here

[@UNIONPACIFIC3606]

@@ethanpeters9184 most likely a Leslie RS3L

[@frisco957]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you posting this. I have searched for photos of trains crossing this bridge for several years now, but could never find any. I knew someone out there had some pictures or footage. And the very last train on top of that! Thanks again.

[@waynelammers822]

Hello frisco957. The Katy RR is one of my favorite obsessions. I have around 200 images (some with trains crossing) and many hours of video. If you are interested, you may email me at [e-mail] Thanks for the kind words. Wayne

[@sarahsmith7673]

Wayne, I was wondering if you knew of any videos of the bridge being raised/lowered. I would love to see that! I'm new to Boonville and I've fallen in love with the story of this railroad bridge!

[@UsTrainsAndSirens]

The lead locomotive (MKT 309) is now UP 840 a GP38-2 model Built in 1972 originally as MKT 309 shown here. Was last seen in Fort Woth, TX in March of 2021 sitting in the yard.

[@rustyshackleford6637]

Good to hear motherfucker 👍

[@carlbelken4478]

Thank you for posting this. I still miss their trains. That last one to go over the Boonville bridge was fairly short. There were times I'd counted as many as 100 cars in a train.

[@scottn940]

Thanks a million for uploading this -- brings back fond memories of the Katy, although mine are limited to an occasional train in Augusta, not Boonville, unfortunately. I remember driving through Augusta with my dad around 1988 and seeing a Merit crew stacking the rails and ties in a pile next to the grade crossing. Very sad day for Missouri, that's for sure.

[@waynelammers822]

Thanks for the kind comments. All is not lost…. The city of Boonville, MO now has ownership of the bridge and is in the process of renovating it for The Katy Trail. Here is a web site for the Katy Bridge. www.katybridgefriends.org

[@scottn940]

Wayne Lammers - It's a shame the Katy went out without any fanfare. It would've been a more appropriate ending to have a special passenger train charted by the St. Louis NRHS to run between St. Louis and Boonville. I guarantee they would've sold that out in a hurry!

[@Mizedan]

Great footage!! Dig the music fade to the sound of the train. Nice job Wayne!!!

[@waynelammers822]

Thanks for your kind words. I plan on sharing more videos in the future. Thanks again, Wayne

[@christopherchoice9657]

THANK YOU WAYNE I LOVE THE MKT TOO I USE TO SEE MKT ALOT WHEN I WAS SMALL IN DALLAS TX WHERE I LIVE ALL KINDS OF KATY POWER AND THE B F-UNIT LAST TIME I SEEN THE KATY WAS IN 1991 MIX IN U.P POWER I STILL TOO THIS DAY SEE FEW KATY CARS STILL IN GREEN AND YELLOW ROLLING AROUND THE KATY IS NOT DEAD AT ALL

[@TylersNeighborhoodGarage]

As of 2021 MKT 309 is still running on the UP.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Used to see those big green MKT units all the time when I was a kid in the 80's. There was an MKT owned line about a mile down the road from the house I grew up in. Real late at night you could hear the low frequency rumble when they'd go through old downtown Carrollton by the grain elevator. And i'd wait to hear the horn at the crossing. And then roll back over and go to sleep.

[@sharkheadism]

I bet that bridge tender wasn't happy--he was out of a job. This was also right before the two brakemen and the firemen lost their jobs, marking the end of the caboose.

that had to be the easiest job ever. train coming, push bridge down button. barge coming, push bridge up button

[@paulbergen9114]

Wow what an ending to a line. This was similar to the feeling years ago when the Soo Line ripped up the Milwaukee Road WB main near Ixonia WI. No more Hiawathas flying down the main or the ubiquitous 40 foot boxcars clattering back to the farms. That long mournful horn salute was awesome

[@MrSuzuki1187]

Look at that current!! I grew up on the lower Missouri in the 1960s and remember when a boat with 4 people on it capsized. Two of the 4 drowned even though they were wearing life jackets. That river scared me then and still does.

[@waynelammers822]

The background (Buy Out) music is from Entergetic Music Co. which I bought @ 20 years ago. The name of the song is Arizona Girl. It sounds fitting for the clip don't you think?

[@stuarthightower418]

I love it. How can I get a copy of it?

[@lindahendrix340]

I love the music. Will have to find if I can.

[@CABRALFAN27]

Now THAT'S what I call a horn!

[@Laithshtieh25]

Nice video

[@ArkRed1]

My dad worked for the Katy for 44 years. He retired and we moved to Springfield, Missouri, then I moved to Arkansas. Rode many a mile in my dad's caboose over the old Katy Bridge. Is it still up and part of the Katy Trail? I hated to see the old yard office and hotel torn down in Franklin, but I guess it was time. Lots of great memories from that time.

[@tonychristianson7866]

My dad worked on the katy for about 20 years. Until the U.P. bought em out. He was a roadmaster. Road with him many times on the rails.

[@gethighonlife11]

Man, that must have been an adventure to ride in a freight train like that.

[@carlbelken4478]

The UP wanted to move it to another location. There was a legal battle over it. The Katy had sold it and the section of track now known as the KATY trail to the state of Missouri but the UP claimed that since they bought out the KATY they still owned the bridge. I don't know how that battle turned out. I have not been to Boonville for many years so to answer your question I used Google Earth to check. Yes it's still there.

[@waynelammers2552]

The City of Boonville has taken charge of the Boonville Katy RR Bridge. We have finish phase #1 which is to place a walkway out to the lift span on the Boonville side. We are presently seaking funds to finish the north side of the bridge. The last phase is to make the lift span operational. Come visit. You'll like it.

[@carlbelken4478]

Thank you, Wayne! I'd wondered how the bridge story was going to end.

[@ahmedrizwan9006]

nice video

[@waynelammers2552]

+Ahmed Rizwan Glad you liked it. come see it in person and walk on it. It's part of the Missouri Katy Trail State Park.

[@christopherchoice9657]

NOW THAT'S A HORN ON THAT MKT GP40

[@waynelammers822]

Yes, the sound is remarkable. That morning, I told the engineer (Dennis Huff and Randy Bell conductor) to lay on the horn for a long time because it would be the last sound of the Katy crossing Morgan & Spring Streets. I dearly miss the Katy here in Boonville, MO. But we do have the Katy Trail to walk & ride on and the Katy RR Bridge which will soon to be open to hikers & bikers. Can't wait!!!

[@marvinmcgill]

This what they told me at the Musem when i lived in Moberly Mo took a tripe there in 2006 they told me that the UP sold them the rights to the ROW but at anything they wanted it back they have to sale it back to them. Now the reason they kelpt the ROW right I found out 5 years later is they wanted that bridge they were going to take apart float it down river or it might been up river but anyway the bridge was to replace another I think they said in TX's the city really fought hard cause they had already had the money to make the trail over the bridge they tought the RR didnt ever want the ROW back since they had been saling a lot of it down the line to make storages and homes been a few years to since they solf the ROW to the city but in the end the UP gave up found out they said it was going to cost more to take it down and transport it. I think deep down they were trying from the start of the sale to be able to screw the city and theey thing now that the city had a better chance sine it had now turned into a trail that the Fed goverment had given money for that meant the Fed Gov. will step in and we allknow when the Goverment gets in to it they will get it hands down. In the nut shell it was going coat way to much to win that bridge then transport it and be tied up in court for years. \

[@marvinmcgill]

That way car was the way car that always ran that line it was always taken off at the town yards over on the other side of the bridge I cant remember the name of the crew change on the other side been there meany times but the city ened up with the way car the engines went on another line to be used for a short time after.

[@9005067]

a classic video

[@paulgrimm7842]

Remember the MKT from my neighborhood in West Houston.

[@timetable5245]

Hard to believe...we lost the railroad.

[@randywise5241]

The Katy line in my town was torn up in the 1970's.

[@crystalrock18]

I have a question for Wayne Lammers. Did you ever have a great uncle or grandfather named Richard Lammers? He was mg great grandfather and work for the MKT for many years as a maintenance of way worker, and then section lead, tans then supervisor before he took and early retirement due to liver problems. He was born in Pilot Grove Missouri too.

[@ethanpeters9184]

Does anybody know what the name of that song is in this video I love that that song I love that song so well that I played this video by several times I'm a musician and I've taught myself how to play this song but I'd like to know what it is so I can look it up and listen to it

[@haydendraycott7897]

Nice! Anyone know if there are still any MKT locos with the green and yellow color scheme left?

[@defaultguy9087]

Yeah there's only 2 and it's at the Oklahoma Railroad Museum it's at sw2 operated for special trains the Kansas Midland railroad have a Alco rs3 still in service but In the red colors.

[@HC-cb4yp]

Wow - I assumed the Katy ended service in the 1960s.

[@waynelammers2552]

The Katy ended passenger service here in 1965 or so and freight in 1985.

[@HC-cb4yp]

Thanks. I don't think the concept of "banking" the old rail lines as trails and bikeways until "needed for future transportation" is going to work. The bikers and tree huggers would howl too much.

[@brfts2001]

1965 was the final year for Katy passenger service between KC-Dallas. But this line from St. Louis to Dallas actually had it's final passenger run in May of 1958.

[@65binder1]

It's a great video! Love the old railroads. Who did the background instrumental?

[@waynelammers822]

Baxkground music is from Entergetic Music. They are a music buy out company

[@bradfortner8254]

I live in stl James is right + old lines& bridges too expensive to update u will still see a lot of defunct RR company cars years later they don't repaint many bought out old cars they run them till death paint only If absolutely needed same with bridge logos some here are 80 years old

[@waynelammers822]

Hi Jaw Tooth, I was lucky that I had a friend named Dennis Huff who was engineer of this train. Weeks before I informed him that I needed to video one of the last trains to cross the Katy Bridge at Boonville, MO. He called me at work one saturday & advised me of this train. I grabed my video camera and went down to the bridge and captured the event. I was so glad that I did. Please take a look at our Kickstarter event for the restoration of the bridge and attaching it to the Katy Trail. Please consider a pledge to this worthy event. www.kickstarter.com/projects/restorethekaty/restore-the-katy-bridge?ref=nav_search Thank you, Wayne Lammers 660-882-2393

[@eddieknox9874]

all gone, and they havent done nothing with the bridge

[@ALS2001]

The reason why this line was closed was because of major washouts along the Missouri River after a flood in 1986. The Katy elected to abandon it own line between Sedalia, MO and Machans, MO instead of repair the line. They Katy still reached St. Louis via Trackage Rights over the Union Pacific via Jefferson City. The line was NOT closed because of Negotiations of merger with the UP, but because of Mother Nature flooding the line along the Missouri River in Eastern Missouri. The correct name is not "Katy Railroad", but "Missouri-Kansas Texas Railway Co."

[@scottn940]

Haha yes Jim but everyone called it "Katy" for short!

[@carlbelken4478]

I went to a funeral in Parsons Kansas in 1985. Most of my wife's relatives worked for the MKT at the backshops there. I commented to one of them that the KATY had just done a lot of work on the tracks in my area. They'd put in hundreds of new ties and replaced rails. The fellow I was talking to told me that the MKT had borrowed a bunch of money from UP and that the UP would soon take them over. He also said that the section of track I lived on would soon be abandoned and that he was going to take early retirement before all that happened. Just a week before the OCT 86 flood there was a work train here but it skeddadled before the flood hit. All those new ties got washed away. Many of them were " Rescued" by the locals and put to good use.

[@joshuadean9647]

wow. this is amazing. how close were you standing to that train as it flew by ?

[@waynelammers822]

I could reach out & touch it with my hand. Less than 3 feet away. Wayne

[@johntotten1611]

Wayne Lammers I'll bet you wish you had a GoPro back then!

[@waynelammers822]

John Totten IonlywishtheKatywasstillrunning Wayne

[@johntotten1611]

Wayne Lammers I used to see it coming into Houston, TX, when I lived there in the late '70's.

[@waynelammers2552]

+John Totten You bet!!!

[@gregsmith4210]

There is a bridge like this one on Georgia and Alabama state line its kind of in the middle of nowhere the closest town on the Alabama side is cottonton and the closest town on the Georgia side might be Omaha .The river that it crosses is the chattahooche .It was abandoned in the late 80's or early 90's it was part of seaboard system when the merger formed csx .I think the Georgia southwestern railroad used it briefly after that.

[@Rebel9668]

There's a bridge like this in Louisville Kentucky that crosses into Clarksville Indiana that's still in use, There's a youtube video of a train crossing it. I think it's known an the K&I bridge or the L&I bridge as Louisville has both of them.

[@ArkRed1]

Are you any relation to Al Lammers of Lammers Barbershop in Boonville?

[@waynelammers2552]

+Arkansas Red Why Yes!! He was my uncle, cousin. Double relation. Uncle, from my father's side & cousin on my mother side. Go figure.

[@LiveeviL6969]

Something I just noticed - THERE IS NO GRAFITTI ON THE CARS! It's so sad how the stupid youth feels the need to deface everything.

[@kurtiskaskowski5386]

LiveeviL6969 what's funny is the "youth" that started graffiti in the 70s, are all senior citizens now. Lol

[@butti9249]

Well seen! Totally agree with you!

[@XPinkDiamondz420X]

Why was this bridge closed?

[@waynelammers822]

The Union Pacific RR purchased the MKT or KATY RR in 1986 but didn't need the line though Boonville MO and over the Missouri River, so they abandoned the bridge. The Katy Trail was created and Boonville took possession of the bridge. We are taking donations for the process of converting the bridge to be a large part of the Katy Trail. For more information and donations please contact www.katybridgefriends.org.

[@lu1sgamingc00l7]

2:24 why am i hearing roblox train sound

[@houstonrailfanTX]

Well when the MKT died she took the caboose with her

[@peterbillionaire]

This bridge could be part of the Katy Trail now, if Missouri taxpayers weren't so cheap. Maybe sometime this century.....