[4] It was used to transport goods westerly from Bonne Terre to Summit, a point on the line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company, but the mine products of the St. Joseph Lead Company had still to be hauled for 18 miles (29 km) by ox-team from the mines to Bonne Terre.

was incorporated for a term of 50 years on May 11, 1888, under the provisions of Chapter 21, Articles 1 and 2, of the revised statutes of Missouri.

The avowed purpose of the corporation was to construct, operate, and maintain a standard or broad gauge railroad, extending in a northerly direction from Bonne Terre, St. Francois County, through St. Francois and Jefferson Counties, in Missouri, to a point on the Mississippi River now known as Riverside.

[2] The railway was initially constructed as a narrow gauge railroad between Bonne Terre and Riverside, a wharf at the Mississippi River.

The railroad ran through the growing towns of Bonne Terre, Desloge, St. Francois, Flat River, Rivermines, Elvins and Doe Run, whose economy benefited from the improved transport capabilities.

Even so, the order for two Baldwin 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives included the following caution: "Engine frames to be extra heavy throughout.

Engine frames to be designed to withstand rough usage and considerable lateral thrust, which will be continually in evidence given that the road is all curves, there being only one tangent [straight track] which is a mile long.

's main line from Riverside to Bonne Terre, 29.246 miles (47.067 km), was constructed for it by the St. Joseph Lead Company during 1889 and 1890.

The extension of the main line from Bonne Terre to Doe Run Junction, 13.898 miles (22.367 km), was also built by the St. Joseph Lead Company for the M.R.

[1] The four branch lines, embracing 17.418 miles (28.032 km), were constructed as standard gauge as follows: The Missouri Pacific acquired the M.R.

The 11-mile-long (18 km) section from Derby at the junction with the Missouri-Illinois Railway to Doe Run ceased operations in 1941.