The Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad (DE&G) was built as a short line railroad operating in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Incorporated in Oklahoma as the Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad Company, March 31, 1902, by the five Frantz Brothers.

History

Grain elevator by railroad in Enid, Oklahoma

In June 1902, construction started with grading at

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

. Track laying began at Enid, reaching

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7 percent increase from the figure of 9,925 in the 2000 census. First kno ...

, on July 3, 1904. The first passenger train was an excursion train run from Enid to Guthrie on July 4, 1904. 1905 marked completion of the line northward from Enid to

Kiowa, Kansas Kiowa is a city in Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 902. It is located 1 mile north of the Kansas / Oklahoma state border. History 19th century Kiowa was founded in 1872. It was na ...

. The line from Guthrie to Kiowa was . The Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad never reached its expressed terminals. When the Santa Fe acquired it, the line became a connecting link between its south bound Texas line at Guthrie, and its west bound California, Kansas, line at Kiowa. On May 22, 1907, the Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad was sold to the

Eastern Oklahoma Railway 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 (Eastern Oklahoma junction) to Cushing junction, 47.9 miles, in ...

. Soon thereafter, on June 20, 1907, it was resold to the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

Geography

A train on the tracks near Blanton, Oklahoma

Starting at the south end of the line in

, the DE&G departed from the AT&SF mainline just north of downtown and curved northwestward, paralleling, then crossing the sand-choked Cimarron River on a long wooden pile bridge. The line continued northwestward through several small farming communities, servicing

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

s. A high wooden trestle carried the railroad across Skeleton Creek. At

, the line crossed the former

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

(now

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

) as well as two lines of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. In Enid the former AT&SF brick freight depot houses the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma, across the street from the classic Tudor AT&SF passenger station. Between Jet and Cherokee, Oklahoma, the line crossed the western portion of the salt flats at

Great Salt Plains Lake Great Salt Plains Lake is a reservoir located within the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma in the United States named because of the salt flats in the area and for the Salt Fork Arkansas River, which is dammed to fo ...

for several miles atop an earth berm fill. North of Cherokee it bridged the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, including a long wooden trestle over the flood plain. At

, the line terminated at a junction with the current

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

transcontinental line after passing through a cut about deep.

Passenger Service

In March 1949, Northbound train number 54 left Guthrie at 8:15 AM Central Time, arrived in Enid at 9:55 AM, and terminated in Kiowa at 11:55 AM. Southbound train number 53 departed Kiowa at 12:30 PM, arrived in Enid at 2:30 PM, and terminated in Guthrie at 4:20 PM.

Abandonments

; Blanton, Oklahoma, to

- 1996 () :On December 23, 1996, the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...

approved the K & E Railway (K&E) request to abandon its entire 57.69-mile rail line between milepost 0.60, at or near

, and milepost 56.98, at or near Blanton, Garfield County, northwest of

. K&E acquired the line from The

Company earlier in 1996. Historically, the line was used for grain gathering, but no traffic had moved over it for at least 5 years prior to the acquisition by K&E, and K&E had subsequently moved no traffic. According to K&E, the track primarily consisted of 90-lb. rail installed between 1914 and 1921. The track was described as generally in fair to poor condition, requiring replacement of approximately 14% of the rail, 7% of the bars, and 46% of the ties to resume service. In addition, several wash-outs and four bridges are said to have required repairs. ;

, to

Fairmont, Oklahoma Fairmont is a town in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 134 at the 2010 census, a decrease from 147 at the 2000 census. Notes References External links ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Fairmont ...

- 1998 () :This section was taken out of service in 1994 due to flood damage on the Cimarron River bridge and a couple of other creeks near the bridge. Although the blame for this abandonment is given due to a bridge washout at Cottonwood Creek it is more than likely due to the merger of the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the e ...

and

. Trains from Enid now run on the Avard sub to

Perry, Oklahoma Perry is a city in, and county seat of, Noble County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,126, a 2.0 percent decrease from the figure of 5,230 in 2000. The city is home of Ditch Witch construction equipment. ...

and then "west" to Guthrie. On October 23, 1998, the

approved the

request to abandon 42.80 miles of its line of railroad between milepost 73.60 near Fairmont and milepost 116.40 near Guthrie The line was railbanked, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation was designated as the holder of rights to develop it for trail use. On Feb 19, 2010, a petition was filed by Montoff Transportation, LLC, of Seattle WA, to acquire from BNSF its residual right to reactivate the line and from ODOT its right to develop a trail. The stated purpose at that time was to put the line back in service, and initially to develop portions of it for railcar storage.

Current operations

Enid to

, is operated by

for directional running, in tandem with a parallel line which was formerly part of the Frisco ( St. Louis-San Francisco Railway). This is now part of BNSF Railway Avard sub, used for transcontinental traffic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denver Enid Gulf Railroad Defunct Oklahoma railroads Predecessors of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Railway companies established in 1902 Railway companies disestablished in 1907 Defunct Kansas railroads Railway companies in Enid, Oklahoma