The Wabash used to have a spur line between Centralia, MO and Columbia, MO, the university town. On Friday nights we college kids rode the doodlebug from Columbia up to Centralia and waited for connecting trains home, in my case no. 11, to Brunswick. On Sunday nights we reversed course and went back to school for the week.
I can recall my dad, supervisor of track maintenance stationed in Brunswick at the time, saying that when Winston Churchill came to Fulton,MO to give his Iron Curtain speech, his special train rode that spur line. Before his trip, however, a man walked the entire distance on foot to check that the rail was in topnotch condition and safe. That was in 1946. Before saying that is gospel, however, I think it should be further researched.