The Kyle Railroad is a regional

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line that runs from North Central

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 ...

into Eastern

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 ...

. It is based in

Phillipsburg, Kansas Phillipsburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Phillips County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,337. History Phillipsburg was organized in 1872 and named the county seat due to its central location in t ...

and runs on track, mostly the former

Rock Island 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 In the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly k ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

main line. The Kyle was owned by

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it t ...

from 2002 to 2012. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. bought RailAmerica in late 2012.

History

The Kyle Railroad was formed for the 1982 northern Kansas harvest season by the Willis B. Kyle Organization, which consisted of several railroad properties, including the

San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company is a short-line United States, American railroad founded in 1906 as the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) by sugar magnate, developer, and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossi ...

, the

Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway The Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway was an Oregon-based short line railroad that began near Eugene as the Oregon and Southeastern Railroad (O&SE) in 1904. O&SE's line ran along the Row River between the towns of Cottage Grove and Dissto ...

, the

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United States. The railroad is named for two geogr ...

and the

Pend Oreille Valley Railroad The Pend Oreille Valley Railroad is a shortline railroad located in Usk, in northeast Washington. Route The POVA serves the communities of Usk, Dalkena, Newport, Oldtown, Priest River, Laclede and has trackage rights from Dover- Sandpoint ...

. Included was about of trackage from Belleville, KS to Limon, CO, with trackage rights over the

Cadillac and Lake City Railroad The Cadillac & Lake City Railway was a railroad which operated in the Midwestern United States. The operation was owned by Western States Properties, Inc. and several investors who operated lines in three states; Colorado, Kansas, and Michigan d ...

from Limon, CO to

Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. Officially, on September 16, 1980, The Kyle Railroad signed with the MSPA (Mid-States Port Authority) a contract for the Hallam, NE to Limon, CO and Belleville, KS to Clay Center, KS line, as well as of trackage rights over the

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 ...

from Limon, CO to

Denver, CO Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, totalling . The Kyle Railroad acted as the MSPA's operator of these lines. Recently the Kyle Railroad bought the tracks on which it operates from the MSPA. Power for the trains initially consisted of former

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 ...

ALCO Century 425 The ALCO Century 425 was a four- axle, diesel-electric locomotive. 91 were built between October 1964 and December 1966. Cataloged as part of ALCO's "Century" line of locomotives, the C425 was an upgraded version of the C424. The C425 employe ...

s, most tracing their heritage to the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank o ...

. Kyle Railroad migrated to General Electric U30C and U33C power by the mid-2000s. After RailAmerica purchased Kyle, the legacy GE power was dropped in favor of EMD power, including former Burlington Northern SD40-2s and Southern Pacific SD40T-2s. The railroad also used to have an ex-Southern Pacific EMD SD45T-2, # 9362. With the purchase by Genesee and Wyoming, a number of

MK5000C The MK5000C is a North American diesel-electric locomotive developed by MK Rail. At the time of its introduction in 1994, the MK5000C was the most powerful single prime mover diesel-electric locomotive ever made, a title it would hold for only ...

's provided by the

Utah Railway Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...

(a fellow subsidiary of Genessee & Wyoming) now operate on the Kyle Railroad.

Traffic

The railroad handles mostly agricultural commodities, although limited amounts of construction materials are carried. KYLE transported around 20,000 carloads in 2000.

References

Notes

External links

Kyle Railroad official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
Colorado railroads Kansas railroads Regional railroads in the United States RailAmerica Spin-offs of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Companies operating former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad lines Companies operating former Missouri Pacific Railroad lines Companies operating former Union Pacific Railroad lines {{US-rail-company-stub