The Webbers Falls Railroad (W.F.R.R.) was a shortline railway operating between the towns of Webbers Falls and Warner in the State of Oklahoma . Its predecessor began operations in 1911, and its line was dismantled by 1918.
18-560: The creator of the line was incorporated in Oklahoma on December 9, 1909 as the Webbers Falls, Shawnee and Western Railroad. It constructed trackage between Webbers Falls and Warner during 1911, with the first train out of Webbers Falls being inaugurated amid great fanfare on October 1 of that year. The railroad promised four passenger trains daily, with two in each direction, as well as ample freight service. The line connected with
36-657: A branch to the Glenn Pool oil field , which generated a lot of traffic and stimulated MV's revenues. MV extended that line as far as Kiefer but closed the Glenn Pool-Kiefer section in 1936. Wichita, Kansas was reached in 1911, with the lease of the Wichita and Midland Valley railroad. Service to Wichita ended in 1966, and the northern section of the road was pared back to Barnsdall, Oklahoma . Passenger service ended in 1934. Competition from other railroads caused
54-672: A bridge over the Arkansas River, which would have allowed the line to extend east from Webbers Falls to Gore, Oklahoma on the other side of that waterway. However, the line was never extended, and by 1918 was instead sold to well-known railroad scrapper Herman Sonken who tore up the rails, dismantled the engines and buildings, and eventually had bullets made out of the steel to help the Allied effort in World War I . Midland Valley Railroad The Midland Valley Railroad ( MV )
72-844: A decline in MV's fortunes, especially during the Great Depression . The line was known as one of the Muskogee Roads . Muskogee, Oklahoma was home to the Midland Valley's headquarters and shops, and its owner, the Muskogee Company , operated out of Muskogee even though its corporate headquarters were in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . In 1925, the Midland Valley acquired the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway , and
90-621: A historical summary written by the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University , which holds the archives of the Muskogee Company, the company history actually began in the 1890s, when a group of Philadelphia businessmen, headed by C. J. Ingersoll, built the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad (CO&G), which ran from Hartford, Arkansas to McAlester, Oklahoma (then known as Indian Territory ). These men intended
108-552: The Midland Valley Railroad at Warner, giving Webbers Falls a connection to the outside world other than its traditional link, the Arkansas River . Aspirations included extending the line to Shawnee, Oklahoma , almost a hundred miles further west from Warner, at the very least. But the railroad quickly ran into financial difficulty, allegedly because the Midland Valley did not extend the concessions that
126-604: The Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac) in 1964. The Midland Valley was merged into the Texas & Pacific Railroad (T&P), a MoPac subsidiary on April 1, 1967. MoPac merged into the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1983. Operated as branch lines for a number of years, most of the Midland Valley has now been abandoned. Much of the former route has been converted from rail to trail, such as
144-754: The 14.5 mile Osage Prairie Trail between Tulsa and Skiatook . Muskogee Company The Muskogee Company was a holding company based in Philadelphia . It was originally founded in Delaware on February 27, 1923. The company owned several railroads, which shipped oil and coal to western regions of the United States. The company's founding officers were brothers C. Jared Ingersoll, industrialist, as president, and John H. W. Ingersoll, attorney and industrialist, as vice president and treasurer. The Muskogee Company owned large interests in several railroads in and about northeastern Oklahoma. According to
162-442: The Muskogee Company purchased a third railroad Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway in 1929. The most serious accident on the Midland Valley system occurred February 1, 1958. Westbound train 41 collided head-on with eastbound train 42 on the curve at Bokoshe, Oklahoma . Four crew members died and seven were injured. All three railroads were operated as more or less common property by the Muskogee Company until sale of all three to
180-551: The Muskogee Company took ownership of the line after its 1923 formation. The Osage Railway, which was affiliated but independently owned and operated, was built during the early 1920s to accommodate traffic from the oil fields located in the Osage Nation. The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf was in receivership when acquired by the Muskogee Company in 1926. Finally, the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway
198-491: The minor road needed to operate. The line ceased operations in 1914. During this downtime, a justice of the peace at Webbers Falls bought an old railroad handcar , equipped it with a gasoline engine, and started running on the line without permission; but, operational problems with the trackage, encounters with another “pirate” user on the same line, and eventually a lawsuit from the railroad owners, caused that activity to cease. Early 1915 saw successful negotiations for sale of
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#1732798093946216-583: The railroad to serve their coal mines in Arkansas, the most notable of which were: the Sebastian County Coal & Mining Co., American Smokeless Coal Co., Mazzrad Coal & Mining Co., and Garland Coal & Mining Co. In 1902, Ingersoll's group sold the CO&;G to a competitor and began the Midland Valley Railroad , which would run from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to Wichita, Kansas . The route
234-541: The road. The Webbers Falls Railroad Company was incorporated in Oklahoma on June 8, 1916 to actually take title to the property. A snapshot of the W.F.R.R. in August 1916 showed an 11.6-mile standard gauge operation with its headquarters in Webbers Falls. The line was operating two coal-burning locomotives for freight, and two motor railcars for passengers. The W.F.R.R. still had an eye for expansion, and actually received Congressional consent on October 5, 1917 to construct
252-595: The state. The railroads that fell under the control and common management of the Muskogee Company were colloquially referred to as the Muskogee Roads . The Muskogee Roads were made up of the Midland Valley Railroad , the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway , the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway , and indirectly, the Osage Railway. C. Jared Ingersoll was a majority owner of the Midland Valley since its beginning on February 1, 1903, but
270-497: Was a railroad company incorporated on June 4, 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hope, Arkansas , through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas . It was backed by C. Jared Ingersoll, a Philadelphia industrialist who owned coal mining properties in Indian Territory (now part of the state of Oklahoma). The railroad took its name from Midland, Arkansas , a coal mining town in western Arkansas, which
288-553: Was purchased by the Muskogee Company in 1929, at which point the Ingersoll interests owned and operated four different railways with a total of 756 miles of trackage. The Osage Railroad was abandoned in 1953. In 1963, the Texas & Pacific , which was a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad , acquired the other three lines. The Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka was sold to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe that same year, while
306-712: Was served by the railroad. The Midland Valley gained access to Fort Smith, Arkansas via trackage rights over the Frisco from Rock Island, Oklahoma . In 1967, the Midland Valley Railroad was merged into the Texas & Pacific Railroad, which was absorbed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1983. MV reached Tulsa in 1904, and completed construction of its initial system in 1906 upon reaching Arkansas City, Kansas . The same year it opened
324-623: Was to go northwest from Ft. Smith through Muskogee , Tulsa and the Osage Nation into Kansas , where there were other coal interests. Coal shipments from company-owned mines to colder western regions of the United States via the Muskogee Company-owned Midland Valley was the original plan for profit. Oil discoveries in Oklahoma later produced lucrative revenues for the Muskogee Company railroads that were strategically located in high production areas of
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