Missouri, Kansas and Texas Extension Railway - The Katy - 1880 dated Railroad Stock Certificate - Southern States

Railroad Stock. Vignette of passing train in upper center of stock. The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway (reporting mark MKT) was a former Class I railroad company in the United States, with its final headquarters located in Dallas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, the railroad developed a broad network across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1988, it merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad and is now part of Union Pacific Railroad. During the 1890s, the MKT was often referred to as "the K-T," denoting its Kansas-Texas division within the Missouri Pacific Railroad and its "KT" stock exchange symbol. This eventually led to the nickname "the Katy."

The Katy was the first railroad to enter Texas from the north. Its core network connected Parsons, Fort Scott, Junction City, Olathe, and Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City, Joplin, Columbia, Jefferson City, and St. Louis, Missouri; Tulsa, Wagoner, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; as well as Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Temple, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Galveston, Texas. In the 1980s, following the collapse of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the Katy added a mainline between Fort Worth and Salina, Kansas, operating it as the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad (OKKT). The Katy also gained access to Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, through former Rock Island trackage rights. By the end of 1970, the MKT operated 2,623 miles of road and 3,765 miles of track.