Stumbled across this on the Downtown Springfield (MO) website. MJers may find this interesting:
http://www.itsalldowntown.com/articles/300
Help Route the Steam to Springfield and Historic C-Street
Monday, November 22 2010 (10:43AM) | Posted by Donnie Rodgers | Commercial Street
Union Pacific Railroad has announced an online contest to give people to opportunity to route the 2011 Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure through their hometown as part of "You Route the Steam" contest.
This is the first time Union Pacific has sought community support for routing excursions for their historic restored steam locomotives and rail cars.
The "You Route the Steam" contest consists of 3 rounds. Round 1 will consist of daily voting for individual communities at www.upexcursion.com until December 6. Round 2 from December 7 to January 3, Union Pacific will work to calculate the top communities and develop proposed routes for the Great Excursion Adventure. Round 3 from January 4 to 17, people will vote round for one of four proposed routes based on earlier votes. Winners will be announced January 18th.
This contest is a great opportunity to bring attention to Springfield's and Historic Commercial Street's railroad history. The City of North Springfield and Commercial Street began in 1870 with the construction of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The Railroad was a vital part of the early growth and development of the City of Springfield.
Vote at www.upexcursion.com