For more than 20 years, trail advocates have coveted the old Rock Island Railroad corridor to create a scenic hiking and biking route through the Ozark foothills south of the Missouri River.

Last week, Ameren Missouri, current owner of the line, announced its intent to formally abandon 144 miles of the rail corridor from Windsor to Beaufort and turn it over to the state Department of Natural Resources for trail development.

The line features spectacular scenery, including a 180-foot-tall open trestle bridge, 1,776 feet long, crossing the Gasconade River and a 992-foot tunnel under Freeburg in Osage County. No trains have run over most of the line since 1980, but the rails and rotting ties remain in place.

�It is very clear to everyone that this is not going to be reactivated,� said Brent Hugh of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. �It is just not realistic. If we want to make something of it that is going to benefit the community, the trail is just the only option.�

Ameren owns the 200-mile line through a subsidiary, the Missouri Central Railroad Co. After the collapse of its Taum Sauk Reservoir in 2005, Ameren negotiated the transfer of 46 miles of the line from Windsor to Pleasant Hill to extend the Katy Trail State Park toward Kansas City. The rails and ties are being removed from that section, and it should be ready to turn over to the state by the end of the year.

Under the application that Ameren will file with the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the line from Windsor to Beaufort, the corridor would be converted to a trail under a federal law designed to keep railroad right of way intact for possible future use. The state acquired the Katy Trail using that law.

Earlier this year, the federation joined with the National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to make a bid to buy the line from Ameren. It is possible someone might intervene and seek control of the line by promising to restore service. In that case, Ameren would have to convince federal regulators to accept its plan.

�The big challenge and the huge opportunity is getting control of the property,� Hugh said.

In a prepared statement provided by spokesman Kent Martin, Ameren acknowledged the high level of interest in the trail project. The process is a lengthy one, and the bids received this summer must be considered, the company said. �Given the confidential nature of the bids, we are unable to make any further comments at this time.�