Overview | |
---|---|
Locale | Oklahoma |
Dates of operation | 1900–1902 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Length | 10.6 mi (17.1 km) |
The genesis of the Guthrie and Western Railway (G&WR) may be said to have occurred January 9, 1900, at a public meeting in the city of Guthrie, Oklahoma. At least one recollection of the evening involved the crowd being told that, while the town was already served by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), it was not served by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (Rock Island); and, if the town could raise $15,000, the Rock Island would-- perhaps under another name-- build a line from a connection with its track near Kingfisher into the city of Guthrie. [1] What actually happened was that funding was raised for the G&WR, an affiliate of the AT&SF. Incorporated in Oklahoma Territory on that same date, the railroad during 1900 built from a point on the main line of the AT&SF at or between the stations of Seward and Guthrie, to the Rock Island’s line at or near Kingfisher (specifically, Cashion, Oklahoma, east-southeast of Kingfisher), 10.6 miles. [1] [2] [3]
The line was operated by the AT&SF from its first day. [2] A wholly-owned subsidiary of the AT&SF, the railroad was sold June 16, 1902 to another AT&SF affiliate, the Eastern Oklahoma Railway. [2] In subsequent history, the Eastern Oklahoma Railway was sold to the AT&SF on June 20, 1907. [2] The line was abandoned in 1934. [4] [5]
Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,848. Its county seat is Guthrie.
Lindsay is a city in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,840 at the 2010 census. It once promoted itself as "The Broomcorn Capital of the World" but no longer uses that slogan, as broomcorn is no longer raised in the area.
Kingfisher is a city in and the county seat of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma,. The population was 4,903 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the former home and namesake of Kingfisher College. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Kingfisher is now primarily a bedroom community for people employed in Enid and Oklahoma City.
Cashion is a town in Kingfisher and Logan counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Logan County portion of Cashion is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 802 at the 2010 census, up from 643 in 2000.
The Fort Smith and Western Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles in Southern California. It was incorporated by the U.S. Congress in 1866 as a transcontinental railroad connecting Springfield, Missouri and Van Buren, Arkansas with California. The central portion was never constructed, and the two halves later became parts of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway systems, now both merged into the BNSF Railway.
The Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway (P&SF) is a now-defunct railroad company that was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), operating primarily in the Texas Panhandle.
The Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad (DE&G) was built as a short line railroad operating in Kansas, and Oklahoma. Incorporated in Oklahoma as the Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad Company, March 31, 1902, by the five Frantz Brothers.
The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (CO&G), known informally as the "Choctaw Route," was an American railroad in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The Buffalo and Northwestern Railroad was a railway extending from Waynoka, Oklahoma to Buffalo, Oklahoma, passing through Freedom, Oklahoma. About 52 miles in length, the line was completed in May, 1920 and sold to another railroad in June, 1920.
The Texas and Oklahoma Railroad (T&O) existed briefly from its incorporation in mid-1902 to its consolidation with another line at the end of 1903. Its main accomplishment was to construct 40 miles of track northwest out of Coalgate, Oklahoma.
The Texas and Oklahoma Railroad (TXOR), created in 1991, ran between Oklahoma and Texas on rail purchased from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF). Much of the trackage has since been sold or abandoned; however, the railway continues to exist as a shortline carrier operating between Sweetwater, Texas and Maryneal, Texas.
The Hutchinson and Southern Railroad was formed through articles of consolidation dated October 5, 1889 and filed in Kansas two days later. It combined The McPherson, Texas and Gulf Railroad Company, which had been incorporated in Kansas on May 31, 1887, with The Hutchison, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Company, which had been incorporated in Kansas on March 7, 1889. The railroad originally built 32 miles of standard-gauge line from Hutchinson, Kansas south to Kingman, Kansas, plus 1.1 miles of siding, in 1889. At that point it had two locomotives and two passenger cars, and was headquartered in Hutchinson. In 1890 it gained approval for a scheme to construct track through Anthony, Kansas to the state line, then through Indian Territory and specifically through the towns of Pond Creek and Guthrie, and terminating at a point in Grayson County, Texas, possibly Denison. It finished trackage to the state line in 1890, giving it 82.2 miles of rails. But the Indian Territory portion of the line ended up terminating in Wakita, Oklahoma in February of 1897, just 8.5 miles south of the Kansas-Oklahoma state line.
The Eastern Oklahoma Railway was incorporated under the laws of Oklahoma Territory on July 24, 1899. The railroad constructed much of its own track. This included Guthrie junction to Cushing junction, 47.9 miles, in the 1900-1902 timeframe; Ripley to Esau Junction, 40.4 miles, also in the 1900-1902 timeframe; Newkirk to Pauls Valley, 182.5 miles, in the 1900-1904 timeframe; and, Davis to Sulphur, 9.3 miles, in 1906.
The Kiowa, Chickasha and Fort Smith Railway (KC&FS) came about when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad decided to build an interchange linking their systems at a point halfway between the towns of Chickasha and Pauls Valley in what is now the State of Oklahoma. Toward that goal, the AT&SF incorporated The Kiowa, Chickasha and Fort Smith Railway Company in Kansas on July 13, 1899, which then built a line from Pauls Valley to what became the town of Lindsay, a distance of 24.2 miles, in the 1901-1903 timeframe. The line’s first operation was in December of 1903.
The Oklahoma, New Mexico and Pacific Railway, known colloquially as the “Ringling Railroad,” ran from Ardmore, Oklahoma to Ringling, Oklahoma, with a branch to Healdton, Oklahoma. It was started in 1913, and was sold to an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) affiliate in 1926.
The Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railway (“K&AV”) was owner of 170.64 miles of single track, standard gauge steam railroad line, consisting of a 164.63 mile mainline from a junction near Van Buren, Arkansas through Oklahoma to Coffeyville, Kansas, with branch lines of 6.01 miles. It began operations in 1888 and sold its property to the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway in 1909.
The St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans Railroad ran from Hope, Arkansas to a point near Ardmore, Oklahoma, and encompassed about 219 miles of track including a branch line. It existed from 1895 to 1907, when its assets were taken over by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (“Frisco”).
The Guthrie and Kingfisher Railway (G&KR) was a shortline railroad connecting Kingfisher, Oklahoma and what became Cashion, Oklahoma, a distance of sixteen miles. The trackage was built in 1900, and was both abandoned & removed in 1937.
The Blackwell and Southern Railway constructed a rail line running from Braman, Oklahoma to Tonkawa, Oklahoma. The 15.95-mile (25.67 km) route was built in 1899, and sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) in early 1900.