By ANN PIERCEALL

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

LA PLATA, Mo. -- Plans are under way for a $200 million railroad-themed resort to be built in this farming community.

The Silver Rails Resort is the brain-child of Tom and Kelly Marshall, owners of the Depot Inn & amp; Suites in La Plata, and their partners, Ray Burns, Shivam Survy, Steve Grande and Barbara Cepinko -- owners of the successful Internet-based firm Trainweb.com.

The plan is to break ground on the project by late summer or early fall, and have it open in 2011. The resort will consist of a water park, two hotels, a railroad museum, spa facilities, a shopping district, an alternative energy farm and a Pullman Park that will feature 48 Pullman cars where people can stay overnight.

A train will transport guests from spot to spot within the 170-acre resort. The resort is expected to employ about 500 people .

"It's going to affect the whole northern region," Marshall said.

He said La Plata is perfectly suited for such a resort because it has a long railroad history, including having the famous Wabash line run through the town.

La Plata still has a Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe rail line that brings 60 to 80 trains a day through town, and is one of only two places in Missouri that Amtrak's Southwest Chief transcontinental train stops.

"Everybody says why La Plata? ... There is a very deep rich history here. The railroads built our country. In one way or another the railroads have touched so many people's lives," Marshall said.

Marshall believes the railroad won't be the only draw. He said last year the U.S. tourism industry grossed $1.3 trillion, with 80 percent of visitors motivated by cultural attractions. Missouri ranked fourth in that category, and Marshall noted that a lot of the state's cultural heritage is north of I-70.

"Mark Twain, Walt Disney and Jesse James, all three are within a few hours drive of LaPlata," he said. "Basically LaPlata, Missouri, is going to be a hub of the north."

The Marshalls and the Trainweb group connected when Trainweb was looking to move its company base from California to the Midwest. Ray Burns said a site had already been picked in Liberty, Mo., when he first spoke to Marshall. He said the hotel owner convinced him to make the trip to La Plata to see what was there.

"I give him an A for effort," Burns said with a laugh.

Trainweb was established in 1996 and now owns hundreds of domain names on the Internet. It's the largest railroad information Web site in the world, getting about six million hits a month. The company also owns Trainparty.com, an online store which offers railroad-themed gift items.

Marshall had called to place an order when he convinced Burns to visit La Plata.

Burns was impressed with what he saw at the Marshall's Depot Inn. He called the rail-themed hotel a "first-class" facility that includes a trackless train for children, a museum with hundreds of artifacts and one of the best train-spoting observation points he has seen.

When Marshall pitched the idea of a rail-themed resort to Burns, he immediately saw the possibilities -- the railroad history, the railroad-spotting opportunities now, and the potential for those cultural-heritage day trips.

"I said 'This is a gold mine,' " Burns said. "It will make Missouri stand out ... to those that are interested in trains anyway. If you're into trains you're going to love this."

-- apierceall@whig.com/(573) 221-5879