Masonry firm signs COLT deal for rail track use

The Columbia Terminal railroad will gain a new customer before the end of the year.

Midwest Block & Brick, a masonry and landscaping supply company located on Route B between Brown Station Road and U.S. 63, is building a new warehouse adjacent to the COLT track. The company, after winning authorization from the Columbia City Council on Monday night, will rent an existing connecting track to ship freight on the railroad line that runs from Columbia to Centralia.

The spur track, which connects to the main rail line, was there long before Midwest Block & Brick started construction. The connecting track was formerly used by MU to ship coal in the 1970s, said Christian Johanningmeier, engineering supervisor for COLT.

Pat Schaefer, sales manager for Midwest Block & Brick, said his supply company has owned the land where the warehouse is being built for 10 years. He said the increased cost of using trucks for shipping played a role in their decision to use the spur track.

“Our intent is to use more railroads when we have that available,” he said.

The warehouse will be finished by mid- to late October, Schaefer said.

Midwest Block & Brick has been doing business in Columbia since 1983. It provides supplies to companies such as Wulff Brothers Masonry and J.L. Heath Masonry in Fulton.

Midwest Block & Brick is the only company renting from COLT. The company will pay $500 per year to lease the COLT spur. That money will go toward mending “wear and tear.” Johanningmeier said it costs about $5 per track foot per year to maintain the 100-foot spur.

“The railroad will make money from each car that is delivered to Midwest Block & Brick,” Johanningmeier said, adding that Midwest Block & Brick will pay the city about $300 per car on top of the $500 annual fee. “It’s kind of a package deal so to speak.”