Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway

Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway (WT&J)
Reporting mark WTJR
Locale Oklahoma and Texas
Dates of operation 1991–
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas

The Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway (reporting mark WTJR) is a shortline railroad subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation that operates two disconnected lines in Oklahoma and Texas, mostly owned by the state of Oklahoma. The line for which it is named extends from Wichita Falls, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma, through Wichita, Tillman, and Jackson Counties. It was completed by the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway and Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway of Texas in 1910,[1] and became part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (MKT) system in 1911. The line was cut back from Forgan, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, to Altus in 1973, and operations were transferred to the WTJR in January 1991.[2] The other line, from Waurika to Walters, is a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad branch, leased to the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, an MKT subsidiary, after the Rock Island's abandonment in 1980, and transferred to the WTJR in 1991.[3]

In January 2010 it was announced that the WTJR planned to buy a line from Burkburnett, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma that the railroad had previously leased from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.[4] The deal was to be completed by the middle of the month.[4] Walters to Waurika is no longer in use.

References

  1. ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission, 34 Val. Rep. 293 (1930): Valuation Docket No. 759, The Wichita Falls & Northwestern Railway Company; Valuation Docket No. 814, The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company of Texas and its Leased Lines
  2. ↑ Donovan L. Hofsommer: Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved February 2009.
  3. ↑ Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition, Kalmbach Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-89024-290-9, p. 334
  4. 1 2 "Texas short line to acquire Oklahoma DOT line". Progressive Railroading. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.


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