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Capital Area Rail Terminal highlights growth; commission extends operations agreement for one year
Summary
Presenters for the Capital Area Rail Terminal told Cole County commissioners the transload facility has moved 537 rail cars and is negotiating a potential malt distributor contract; the commission approved a one‑year amendment to the terminal’s operations agreement to maintain continuity while longer‑term arrangements progress.
Ron Spencer of Capital presented an update on the Capital Area Rail Terminal (CART), describing the transload facility as an open, full‑service terminal that has handled 537 rail cars since opening, including 517 loads of the company’s asphalt and several inbound shipments (fly ash, agricultural sand and five cars of road salt transloaded for Cole County). He said the facility can hold roughly 50 rail cars at a time and uses a trackmobile capable of moving up to 12 loaded cars.
Spencer said a large multinational malt and barley distributor recently toured the site and has expressed interest in using CART as a Midwest distribution hub, a relationship that could bring an estimated 100–200 rail cars per year and storage and bagging operations in later phases. He described three growth phases: basic rail‑to‑truck transloading, on‑site silos for storage and, eventually, bagging and additional value‑added operations.
Commissioners and staff emphasized CART’s public‑private partnership model, noting collaboration among the county, Capital (Capital Farmers Company), the Jefferson County Railroad Commission (JCRC) and Mid‑MO RPC. The presenters framed CART as a way to reduce local truck miles by shifting shipments to rail; Spencer said rail transloading can eliminate roughly half of local trucking for those shipments.
Later in the meeting a commissioner moved to approve a one‑year amendment to the existing CART operations agreement to keep current operations in place while negotiations and longer‑term agreements continue. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.
The extension preserves current operations and gives staff and the operator time to finalize any longer contracts expected later this year. Presenters said they expect announcements on new customers and contracts in the next three to six months and the first inbound cars for the prospective malt distributor could arrive this fall.
