Ten miles east of the Osage River bridge is the town of Meta, where the Rock Island had a depot with a train order office. Eastbound train #74 was scheduled out of Eldon at 10:35pm and due through Meta at 11:12pm. With bad track conditions, the train often passed through Meta in daylight hours. Such is the case on June 22, 1975, as GP40 #332 leads 2 other GP40s and a geep through Meta. Mark Nelson

This selection from “Rails Around Missouri” can be found in Chapter Seven – Central Missouri. “Rails Around Missouri” is a new 224-page hard cover book containing over 500 all-color photographs like the one above. Your copy is available for $47.95 plus shipping and will come signed by the author. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover (contents identical).

With over 800 photos submitted, not all could be used. Continuing in our series of shots in & out of the book, the shot below is definitely worth being in print, much less sharing. A year and 1/2 after the shot above, the Nelsons returned to Meta and captured eastbound train #74 again passing through town, this time led by geep #4531 on January 22, 1977. Shot from the same vantage point, snow blankets the scene as the 4531 leads 3 other geeps and a GP40 through town. Mark Nelson

See what others are saying about Rails Around Missouri!