Manufacturers Railway (St. Louis)


The Manufacturers Railway Company is a defunct railway company in St. Louis, Missouri. It was owned by Anheuser-Busch.

History

The railway company was founded in 1887 by Adolphus Busch, the President of Anheuser-Busch. By 1906, Busch was still President while William D. Orthwein was Vice President.
The company's line connected with the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis and the Alton and Southern Railroad in East St. Louis, Illinois. The MRS accessed the Alton and Southern Railroad utilizing trackage rights over the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis via the MacArthur Bridge. MRS owned railroad cars used to transport Anheuser-Busch's products. It also provided locomotive maintenance and painting services to other companies.
On March 25, 2011, it was announced that Anheuser-Busch had applied to shut down the MRS, after the brewery began shipping outbound products via truck instead of rail. However, on April 8, Foster Townsend Rail Logistics announced that it planned to take over operations of the line once Manufacturers Railway ceased operations. On October 2, 2011, FTRL Railway began providing rail switching services at Anheuser Busch's St. Louis brewery.