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

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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

History

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, Oklahoma, Garfield County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the openin ...

. 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. Its population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the 2000 census. First known as a railroad st ...

, 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 Kiowa Township, Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 902. It is located one mile north of the Kansas / Oklahoma state border. History 19th century Kiowa was founde ...

. 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. 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 largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

Geography

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 or grain terminal 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 lowe ...

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

, the line crossed the former

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original 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 ...

(now

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

) 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 The Salt Fork of the Arkansas River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Arkansas River in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma Ok ...

, including a long wooden trestle over the flood plain. At

, the line terminated at a junction with the current

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

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 an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...

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 - 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 merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

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 United States Census, 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 Wit ...

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 Fairmont, Oklahoma, 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