Recently in the TRAINSNewswire there have been coverage of some of the issues that have been churning of late around here in Kansas. Specificall the announcement of the WATCO Passenger Train, The Eastern Flyer scheduled to run over its Stilwater Central RR; in conjunction with the Iowa Pacific who is using its passenger equipment on the trains.
The train is scheduled to run several round trips ( Feb 9,15,23, 2014) From Sapulpa,Ok to Midwest City,OK. To leave in the Am and return in PM of same day. Sapulpa is a suburb of Tulsa and Midwest City is a suburb of Okla City. According to the latest article in Newswire, the 900 available seats are sold out, on the currently scheduled runs.
There was an article this past week in the Wichita Eagle referencing the start-up of the Eastern Flyer and its effect on the proposal for extension of the Heartland Flyer Through Wichita and Newton ( to a point still to be determined for its final destination.) The headline " Tulsa-OKC line could derail plans" by Bill Wilson of The Wichita Eagle
Apparently, this potential extension through Kansas is not too well though of around Tulsa. Additionally, the route of their choice is a line currently owned by the State of Oklahoma, and called the “Sooner Sub” which is scheduled to opened for bidding,by the State, on its operations on January 29th for this 97 mile ‘sub’. The article’s author seems to think that the BNSF will win it, and could potentially become part of the extension o
Follow up to the trips of the EASTERN FLYER on the Stillwater Central RR Trips were run on the 9th and 15th of Feb and another is scheduled to run on the 23rd of Feb, as well. As has been reported the trips ( est 900 or so tickets sold almost immediately)
Found some information regarding the Press coverage of the trips:
Most readers here know the at the Passenger equip,ment was provided by the Iowa Pacific and the power from WATCO’s fleet.
Then there are some stories referencing the sale of that line by its owner The Okla Dept of Transportation (ODOT) which bought the line in 1998 and has been leasing it out as a rail corridor to railroads.
I have been following this development but am not familiar with the area and so cannot decode the routes. Is the Stillwater Central the former Rock Island line from Tucumcari to Memphis? Is one of the lines they are considering from OKC to Kansas the OKKT, before that Rock Island KC-Texas route?
The Line from Sapulpa ( sub of Tulsa) to Midwest City ( sub of OKC) is a former Frisco route and was bought from the BN ( BNSF?) in about the late 1960’s by the State of Okla. and operated by leaseholder ( Stillwater Central/Watco.)
The OKT sub is now Union Pacific and runs through Wichita more or less in a North/South Direction. From Newton, Ks south thru Wichita, past Wellington, Ks, Crosses under the BNSF T-con at that location, then towards Caldwell,Ks and to El Reno,OK ( nee: CRI&P)
Growing up in Memphis, as a child, I had the opportunity to ride the CRI&P Choctaw Rocket to Oklahoma City on several trips, to Little Rock. Towards its end it got to be a pretty ignominious ride… The route from Memphis to Tucumcari,NM I think, was called the Choctaw Route (in part, was over the former Choctataw,Oklahoma, and Gulf RR) . At one time the connection at Memphis was via a Car Ferry to the Eastbank of the Mississippi R.at Memphis.