The stub of the former Greenfield & Northern Railroad serving as the spur to the MFA Plant Foods site on High Street has recently been leased by the Columbia-based farmer’s cooperative and repaired.

Crews from a Columbia railroad maintenance contractor were on-site  April 15 laying down new gravel ballast and repairing the High Street road crossing so rail cars would be able to transverse the pavement.

The line, owned by the BNSF Railway, is the southern stub of the former Greenfield & Northern Railroad, which formerly ran north to Greenfield via Mt. Vernon.

BNSF Railway representatvie Steve Forsberg confirmed that MFA had leased the line for upgrades at their plant.

According to Charlie Cott, a representative of MFA Inc. in Columbia, the improvements are part of an ongoing project to improve the Aurora fertilizer plant for increased use. Cott said that the Aurora plant is being used more and more as distribution point for product not just in the immediate area, but for points across western Missouri and eastern Kansas.

“BNSF provides us great service at the plant, but we were limited to receiving five to seven cars at a time, and they [BNSF Railway crews] were having to walk the line to make sure the cars didn’t derail each time we ordered a delivery,” said Cott.

Cott said the improvements will allow for MFA to receive up to 10 cars at a time. Equipment at the plant has been improved to allow for high-speed loading and unloading. The spur trackage has also been upgraded to handle the new 286,000 lb. industry-standard cars.