Something that's not well know is that the Burlington
Route once had operations in Oklahoma. The question came
up on regional lists and the answer surprised me (I am an
Oklahoman).
The Wichita Falls and Oklahoma Railroad of Oklahoma
was built in 1923 as part of a line from Wichita Falls
northeast through the oil fields in the vicinity of
Petrolia and Byers, Texas, and into Oklahoma at Waurika,
where it connected with the Rock Island.
The trackage in Oklahoma consisted of 7.53 miles. It
was abandoned in 1942, probably as part of the salvage
of steel rails from little used lines. (The oil fields
were no longer as productive and the line probably saw
little traffic by then.)
The WF&O of Oklahoma was leased by the Wichita Valley
Railway at an annual rental equal to interest charges.
_Railroads of Oklahoma_, by Preston George and
Sylvan Wood, was issued as a Railway & Locomotive
Historical Society bulletin in 1943, and has since
been incorporated into several subsequent editions
published by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
_Railroads of Oklahoma_ gives this information
about the Wichita Valley Railway:
"Controlled by the Colorado and Southern Railway
Company through ownership of 99.9 per cent of the
outstanding capital stock and all outstanding bonds.
"The Colorado and Southern Railway Company is
in turn controlled by the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy Railroad Company through stock ownership."
Wes Leatherock
wleath@s...
On Sun, 25 Mar 2001 drale99@a... wrote:
> I think the great thing about the Burlington was that it was a whole lot more
> than a little suburban operation. That RR went places! Everywhere it went
> was great, as for as I'm concerned. Anybody on the Burlington, wherever he
> is, is a RR buddy of mine. It doesn't seem to me that Lines South guys have
> anything to feel bad about. Consider the large number of emails they have
> generated here the last few days. Keep them coming!
> DRale Reeves
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