09/28/2026
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Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway, Missouri (C. 1904)
There was a time when the sound of a steam locomotive was part of everyday life in Missouri’s old Lead Belt. The Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway, better known simply as the M.R. & B.T., was one of the railroads that helped build this part of southeast Missouri.
This remarkable image is believed to show an M.R. & B.T. derailment around 1904. The handwritten notation on the back identifies it as an “MR & BT derailment 1904” and says it happened between Crystal City and Herculaneum in the Lead Belt region. In the image, overturned railroad equipment lies below the track while a huge crowd of railroad workers and local residents gathers around the wreckage. An M.R. & B.T. car can clearly be seen on the embankment above.
The Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway was incorporated in 1888 and was closely tied to the St. Joseph Lead Company. Its original purpose was largely practical, moving lead and supplies between the rich mining country around Bonne Terre and a connection with transportation on the Mississippi River. The line from Riverside to Bonne Terre entered regular service in 1890, and it was soon extended south through the growing Lead Belt communities toward Doe Run.
Although relatively short, the railroad became enormously important to towns including Bonne Terre, Desloge, Flat River, Elvins, Rivermines and Doe Run. Freight was its lifeblood, but passenger trains also became a familiar part of life. At its height, as many as 12 passenger trains a day reportedly passed through the Bonne Terre depot.
In 1929, Missouri Pacific acquired control of the M.R. & B.T., and the old railroad eventually became part of the Missouri-Illinois system. Passenger service disappeared in 1939, and much of the historic route was ultimately abandoned.
More than a century later, photographs like this bring that railroad back to life. Look closely at all those faces. For the people standing beside those overturned cars, this wasn’t ancient history or an old railroad story.
It was something that had just happened down the road.
