Rails to trails

To the editor:

I seem to recall that in an opinion piece a while back, you mentioned the possibility of a trail in Marion County.

Missouri, where I live, has an excellent trail system in abandoned railroad rights of way. In addition, Columbia, Missouri, got a grant several years ago to put a trail system in the city. One of the last critical links was completed just down the street from our house several months ago and connects our neighborhood to the University of Missouri.

I was wondering if the right of way of the old Santa Fe rail line from Florence to Marion still exists and if a trail might be put on it. It would seem to be a nice scenic area. Missouri’s trails have been of considerable economic value to the state.

Keep up the good fight with the three county newspapers!

Stanley Manahan
Peabody High School class of 1956

Editor’s note: Railbanking did not exist until 1983, so only the Marion to McPherson portion of the line was formally railbanked, and even the status of that land is disputed.