Home of the St. Louis, Leadville, & Rosetta Railroad, my model railroad layout project.
Burr County is a fictional county in Missouri between Ste. Genevieve and Perry Counties. It sits on the Mississippi River, with its county seat of Rosetta, MO incorporated in 1848. Lead mining commenced early in the 1810s in nearby Leadville, and Burr County slowly grew in its fortunes. When the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Southern built its Belmont Branch in 1869, the citizens of Burr County were disappointed to see the railroad only coming as far east as Marble Hill.
In February 1870, investor Lucas Garrett Rhodes saw potential in a connection from the county's lead mines and rich timber to St. Louis by river and rail. Rosetta, situated in a point just north of Tower Rock, would be the optimal connection point. Rhodes petitioned Burr County, the City of Rosetta, and the Chalmers Lead Mine Company to raise funds, and each of them bought a quarter-stake in the charter of the St. Louis, Leadville, and Rosetta Railroad.
Ground broke in April of 1870 in Marble Hill, connecting to the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Southern. A small yard and shop was built east of town to service the three Rogers-built 4-4-0s, but the swampy, uneven grounds were prone to sinking and flooding, ensuring the construction was only temporary. Land for a larger permanent yard was purchased in Rosetta. The railroad reached Leadville on October 19th of 1870, and work ended for the season when a snowstorm hit on October 22.
On September 31st, 1871, the StLL&R laid its final spike on the main line into Rosetta's station and docks. The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning, sharp, on October 1st, the inaugural train departed from Rosetta to St. Louis. The No. 1 and No. 3 pulled six wooden coaches, two combine cars, and a red caboose, with important guests aboard including 4th District Representative Harrison E. Havens, Mayor of Rosetta William Montgomery, George Chalmers of Chalmers Lead Mine Company, County Commissioners Haywood Robson and Jewell Meredeth, and of course, Lucas Garrett Rhodes. Their wives and families also accompanied them, as did many local business owners. The train was crewed by engineers Finley Bell and Bartholomew McLachlan, firemen Jackson Jack and Lincoln Gleeson, conductor Joe Garfield, and brakemen Evan Nealy and Earle Gay. The train arrived at 2:17 pm after some delays due to the traffic on the line, and was greeted by St. Louis Mayor Joseph Brown and the city council, where Rhodes treated them to ice-cold champagne aboard the specially-outfitted coach “Rosalee Rhodes”, named for his wife.
The railroad was an early success for the region, carrying lead from the smelter in Leadville to St. Louis on StLIM&S track, and returning with consumer goods, fresh meat and produce, and various equipment. It ran a twice-daily passenger train from Rosetta to Marble Hill, leaving at 7:00 am and arriving at 9:27 am, returning at 10:00 am and arriving at 12:14 pm, leaving again at 3:00 pm and arriving at 5:27 pm, returning at 6:00 pm and arriving at the end of the day at 8:14 pm. Many of the workers at the lead mine took the train daily; the company would supplement their workers’ pay with train tickets. On Tuesdays, an express passenger train ran from Rosetta to Leadville, leaving at 10:00 am and arriving at 11:06 am, returning at 2:45 pm and arriving at 3:38 pm. The schedule would be inverted on Thursdays, running instead from Leadville to Rosetta and back.
In September of 1873, the American economy crashed, leaving thousands destitute. Many railroads collapsed sold off their assets for pennies on the dollar, often at auction, as it proved most of their value was speculative. The St. Louis, Leadville, and Rosetta was the only small route in the region that survived the panic intact, as Rhodes and Chalmers had primarily funded it with gold-backed investments and mineral commodities. The failure of three nearby lead mines due to the falling prices of silver. Chalmers’ mine in Leadville was rather silver-poor, so he had refrained from extracting the mineral; thus, his mine was not subject to the metal's falling prices.
