OFFICIALS ATTEND DEDICATION OF RAIL SPUR AT SEMO REGIONAL PORT

SCOTT CITY -- Making connections means making it in the business world, and regional businesses will be connected directly to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority with the opening of a 1.5-mile railroad track Wednesday.

With completion of the harbor lead track, port customers have access to three railroad lines: Burlington Northern, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. The lead track will connect rail customers to a six-mile main rail line. The port authority purchased the six-mile track from Missouri Pacific Railroad in October 1994.

Respondek Railroad Corp., which is based in Wood River, Ill., operates the Army 1823 locomotive for Semo Port Railroad Inc. The locomotive travels only 10 mph along the track.

The track opening will give the port access to five modes of transportation, said Dan Overbey, port executive director. Businesses can transport goods by rail, river, air, road and pipeline.

Overbey hopes the rail spur will attract more tenants to the port. Some businesses have expressed greater interest since the construction projects are nearing their final stages, he said.

About one-third of the port's 500 acres are already developed. Three businesses are currently operating there with a fourth, Consolidated Grain and Barge, under a lease agreement. The operating businesses are Girardeau Stevedores, First Missouri Terminal and Midwest Agri-Chemical Co.

Consolidated Grain and Barge hopes to build a grain elevator by 1997. Two other companies, Xylem and Cape Fleeting, also lease from the port authority.

Representatives from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Southeast Missouri Regional Port Commission, railroads and local governments attended the 45-minute dedication ceremony that ended with a ride on the locomotive.

The $1.2 million rail spur and $9 million Nash Road extension projects were each partially funded by a $3.075 million economic development administration grant.

"It's been seven years in the making, and we're happy to see the dedication of the railroad," said Ken Dillon, vice chairman of the port board of commissioners.

Scott County Presiding Commissioner Bob Kielhofner said the project resulted from taxpayer support.

"I had the occasion to look up a word in the dictionary last week," he said. "Forbearance -- and it describes the effort here: To endure with patience," Kiehlhofner said.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority was formed in 1975 as a joint effort of Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. It is governed by the nine-member board.