Most of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad was north-south oriented, with the main stem running in an almost straight line from San Antonio, Texas to Kansas City, Missouri. An exception was its east-west line from Parsons to St. Louis, Missouri. Described by David P. Morgan in the August 1960 Trains as "roundabout, tortuous (181 curves in the first 180 miles), subject to flooding and beset by a 1.4 per cent grade," it ultimately succumbed to the double whammy of insufficient traffic and excessive maintenance costs. In 1975 it was still in use, witness the shiny rails here near Case, Missouri, but lack of maintenance was starting to show. This view of the line is looking east from the Missouri Highway 94 grade crossing; the bridge crosses Massie Creek.
