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Amtrak is not usually the first travel method of choice for most Americans these days.  Travel by train often takes longer than flying or driving.  The trains only travel to a few locations. 

Amtrak does have a big tourist potential in the state of Missouri and I’m sure other states will have the same situations but I’m not familiar with them.  Amtrak is also a low cost way to travel across the state.

Here in Missouri we have this great Rails-to-Trails system called the Katy Trail.  It also has trails like the MKT that connects Columbia to the main trail as well.  Amtrak also has train stops at several of the towns along the trail.

Sedalia Missouri is currently the Western most town on the Amtrak line that is also a Katy Trail town.  Many Katy Trail users take the train from St. Louis to Sedalia and then ride their bikes back to St. Louis on the Katy.  Other times riders take the Katy to St. Louis and ride their bicycles back to Sedalia.  It really is a convenient way to experience a large portion of the trail.

Now that a new section of trail is slated to be built between Windsor Missouri and Pleasant Hill Missouri near Kansas City, new opportunities to make Amtrak part of your bicycle trip will soon be available.

Trail users will be able to take the train from Kansas City or Independence to Sedalia and then ride the new tail back home or more ambitious riders could take the train all the way across the state and ride the Katy all the way back. Increasing tourism in many of the Trail and Rail towns along the way.

Amtrak could also greatly benefit from increased passenger numbers.  Amtrak does get some state funding in Missouri but more passengers would result in more funding and more accommodations such as more bike racks and possibly even more trains per day.

Have you ever taken the train as part of your bicycle trip?  If you have, please share your experiences by leaving a comment. 

The Complete the Katy Trail project that I had written about some months ago in Complete the Katy Trail finally got a leg up and the authorization to use the Rock Island rail line.

The Kansas City Star reported on Wednesday that a settlement had finally been reached with AmerenUE for the 2005 Taum Sauk Reservoir collapse. 

AmerenUE owns the Rock Island line, a section of unused rail line that runs between Windsor and Pleasant Hill.  Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed the lawsuit against AmerenUE to make reparations for the dam collapse that destroyed the Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.

AmerenUE is also giving the State of Missouri $18 million to start work on the trail project and the first right to purchase the land if AmerenUE should decide to sell it off.

I think this will be very good for the Katy Trail and bicycling overall in Missouri. I also think this will be detrimental to Katy Trail use and the associated tourism for Clinton and all of the other towns between Clinton and Windsor.

If riders coming from the East have the option of going on towards Kansas City and larger towns or going to Clinton I think most will ride on towards Kansas City.  Clinton will have to have something to offer to the tourists. 

I think many local riders will still go to Clinton from time to time but the out of state or Eastern Missouri rider may not. 

It will be up to the people in Clinton to create an attraction to get riders to go their way.  Great Bed and Breakfasts or some other reason for riders to choose Clinton as their destination.

Do you think the new section of trail will be bad for Clinton?  Please share your thoughts by commenting.

Some of the members of the Pearl River Bicycle Club have put together a couple of fall fun rides that are sure to become annual events.  So enough chatter…here are the ride details:

Halloween Costume Ride

The ride will be on the Katy Trail.  The ghoulish group of costumed cyclists will go down Sunday Oct. 28 at 1:00 p.m. They will start at the Katy Depot and ride west , through town, to Clover Dell, and back.  Just a little ride for fun.  I’m not sure of the mileage.  Costumes are strongly suggested just be sure you can still safely ride.  If you don’t have a costume at least bring a camera.  It should be a great time.

Fall Foliage Bicycle Tour

This ride will be held on Sunday Nov. 4 at 1:00 p.m., departing from the Sedalia Middle School. The ride will follow what has become known as the Alphabet Soup Loop:  Highway M-W-DD-KK-M-V-U.  It is about 42 miles and hilly.  Ebby will sag the ride with bananas, Gatorade, etc.  There are some excellent views on this route.  This will be a no drop ride, meaning if you ride slower we will not leave you out there on your own.

These are going to be great events.  The costume ride will be a Sedalia first and is sure to get some great laughs and plenty of attention I can’t wait post the pictures. 

Travis DeMoss, our fearless PRBC Katy Trail Ride Leader, has decided it is time to change the weekly ride schedule to reflect the waning daylight hours.  And keeping with my usual posting style for these sorts of updates, the exact content of the e-mail from Travis is below.

It looks like we will move the weekly rides to Wednesdays at 5pm for the next month or two. Soon the daylight will not allow even that.

Winter rides will likely be on Sunday afternoons and subject to weather - but there will be a winter schedule.

The fall schedule will begin tomorrow and we’ll decide from there what the winter will look like.

Best Regards

Travis

So everyone get out there and ride if you can.  Pretty soon the weather will not be conducive to such activities.