The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

operating in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. It is primarily located 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 extends into

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, but despite its name, not into

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 ...

Overview

The KO is a subsidiary of

Watco Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) is a transportation company based in Pittsburg, Kansas, formed in 1983 by Charles R. Webb. Watco was composed of four divisions: transportation, mechanical, terminal and port services, and compliance. Watco is th ...

, which took over the operations of the

Central Kansas Railway The Central Kansas Railway (CKR) was a short-line railroad operating of trackage in the U.S. state of Kansas and west to Scott City, Kansas. All trackage was former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway branchlines in Kansas and northern Oklahoma ...

(CKRY) on June 29, 2001. The CKRY property (which by this time included the merged

Kansas Southwestern Railway The Kansas Southwestern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Kansas. It was merged into a sister railroad company, the Central Kansas Railway, in 2000. The Central Kansas Railway was later sold to Watco Companies and became the Kansas and ...

) was purchased from

OmniTrax OmniTRAX, Inc. is a transportation and transportation infrastructure holding company based in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. It primarily owns or operates railroads, with a network of 25 regional and shortline railroads in 12 U.S. states ...

and was named the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad. The KO consists of trackage radiating north and west from their headquarters at

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. Most of this trackage was originally operated by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, although a few segments were originally operated by the

Missouri Pacific The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

. The tracks Kansas & Oklahoma RR operate on also includes portions of the former

Kansas City to Pueblo main line in Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado. KO owns of track, and another is accounted for in

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

Subdivisions

the K&O consisted of the following subdivisions: * Hutchinson Subdivision (Wichita, Kansas to

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

) * Conway Springs Subdivision (Wichita, Kansas to

Kingman, Kansas Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Kingman County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,105. History Kingman was laid out in 1874. Like Kingman County, it was named for Samuel A. Kingman, ch ...

via

Conway Springs, Kansas Conway Springs is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,086. History Conway Springs was founded in 1884. Its name is derived from both Conway Township and a mineral spring nea ...

) * Kingman Subdivision (

Garden Plain, Kansas Garden Plain is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 948. History Garden Plain had its start by the building of the ''Wichita and Western Railroad'' from Wichita to Kingm ...

Pratt, Kansas Pratt is a city in and the county seat of Pratt County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,603. It is home to Pratt Community College. History 19th century Pratt was founded in 1884 and named after ...

) * Isabel Subdivision (

Coats, Kansas Coats is a city in Pratt County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 68. History Coats was founded in about 1887 by William A. Coats, and named for him. Coats was incorporated as a city in 1909. The f ...

to Graham, Kansas) * Great Bend Subdivision (Hutchinson, Kansas to

Larned, Kansas Larned is a city in and the county seat of Pawnee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,769. History Larned was laid out in 1873. The first post office was established at Larned in 1872. The c ...

) * Geneseo Subdivision (

Sterling, Kansas Sterling is a city in Rice County, Kansas, Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,248. Sterling is home to Sterling College (Kansas), Sterling College. History ...

Geneseo, Kansas Geneseo is a city in Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 236. History For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. In 1803, most of modern Kansas was s ...

) * Scott City Subdivision (

Great Bend, Kansas Great Bend is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

Scott City, Kansas Scott City is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Kansas, Scott County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,113. History Early history For millennia, the Great ...

) * Hoisington Subdivision (Geneseo, Kansas to

McCracken, Kansas McCracken is a city in Rush County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 152. History McCracken was founded in 1886 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for J.K. McCracken, a railr ...

and

Healy, Kansas Healy is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 195. History Healy originated as a station and shipping point on the Missouri Pacific Railr ...

Towner, Colorado Towner is a census-designated place (CDP) in and governed by Kiowa County, Colorado, United States. The population of the Towner CDP was 22 at the United States Census 2010. The Sheridan Lake post office ( Zip Code 81071) serves Towner postal ...

) * Salina Subdivision (

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...

Osborne, Kansas Osborne is a city in and the county seat of Osborne County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,335. History Settlers from southeastern Pennsylvania founded Osborne City in May 1871. They named the s ...

) * McPherson Subdivision (

McPherson, Kansas McPherson () is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,082. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general. It i ...

to Conway, Kansas) * Newton Subdivision (

Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...

to McPherson, Kansas)

References

External links

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad map

Current Kansas Railroad Map
Colorado railroads Companies based in Kansas Companies operating former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway lines Companies operating former Missouri Pacific Railroad lines Kansas railroads Railway companies established in 2001 Regional railroads in the United States Watco {{US-rail-company-stub

Overview

Subdivisions

See also

References

External links