Welcome to Grafton, Missouri!
Located in the scenic Ozark Valley region of central Missouri, Grafton offers the charm
of small-town living to its residents, while still giving easy access to the major
attractions and features of this region. We invite you to explore our on-line information
center, and hope that you enjoy learning about our town!
What's New in Grafton
New steam locomotive makes inaugural run - The Missouri Central Railroad's newest
steam locomotive, #97, made its debut on October 25, 2009, pulling an excursion train
from the Grafton station westward several miles, and then returning. Many townsfolk came out
to greet Number 97 as she pulled into the station, and offered those signed up for the Sunday
excursion a nice surprise!
Number 97 is a USRA standard design 0-6-0, and was donated to the railroad by Brian and Julia Albrecht.
After extensive restoration, the locomotive was painted in a beautiful greeen and silver scheme similiar
to the Southern Railway's old passenger scheme before entering service on the Missouri Central.
The Albrechts, who are friends with the railroad's president, happened to see #97 while on a vacation trip
to Tennessee. Once they discovered it was for sale, they immediately purchased it and shipped it back to Missouri.
Cost was not really a factor for the Albrechts, as they recently left lucrative jobs in the Internet services
and healthcare fields to start a new company, Albrecht Survival Gaming World, where one can find anything from 20-sided dice
to MRE's. The company sells supplies to a very specialized clientele known as "survivalist geek gamers", who are rarely
seen but known to reside primarily in fallout shelters or their parent's basements.
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