Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) — Plants in Illinois

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that they were exposed to asbestos while working at Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) plants in Illinois. This page documents the Illinois portion of Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS)’s multi-state operations. For the full corporate summary and plants in other states, see the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) manufacturer page.

Premises Description

Kansas City Southern Railway (“KCS” — founded 1887, headquartered Kansas City, Missouri; acquired by Canadian Pacific in 2023 to form Canadian Pacific Kansas City / CPKC) was through the 20th century one of the principal U.S. north-south Class I freight railroads, uniquely connecting Kansas City, Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico through a compact 3,200-mile network. The KCS system spanned Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas — anchored by the Kansas City to Port Arthur / New Orleans corridor. KCS’s flagship shop and yard complexes included Knoche Yard (Kansas City MO — KCS’s principal northern terminal and locomotive shop), Deramus Yard (Shreveport LA — the railroad’s central classification yard and major locomotive/car shop), Pittsburg KS, Heavener OK, Port Arthur TX, Jackson MS, and New Orleans LA — all major regional workplaces through the asbestos era.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) that Kansas City Southern Railway exposed its railroad workforce to asbestos through:

  • Asbestos brake-shoe dust at KCS rip tracks, car shops, and locomotive servicing facilities
  • Asbestos locomotive insulation on steam-era boiler lagging and diesel engine-room piping
  • Asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains
  • Asbestos block insulation on shop boilers at Knoche and Deramus
  • Spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on shop structural steel
  • Asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and office buildings
  • Asbestos brake dust on freight cars received from interchange partners

Kansas City Southern Railway has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under FELA — including in cases venued in Kansas City and St. Louis MO courts.

Workers Exposed

  • Railroad car repairmen at Knoche Yard, Deramus Yard, Pittsburg, and Heavener
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on KCS trains
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers
  • KCS yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen
  • Shop-building maintenance workers exposed to building asbestos

If You Worked for Kansas City Southern

If you worked for Kansas City Southern Railway — at any KCS yard, shop, roundhouse, or facility in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, or elsewhere on the KCS system during the asbestos era — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Liability continues through CPKC as successor operator.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956