The Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway, its affiliate the Northwestern Railway Company of Texas, and two subsidiaries collectively constructed a railway running from

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accord ...

through

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Ai ...

Forgan, Oklahoma Forgan is a town in Beaver County, Oklahoma, Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 547 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The town name honors James B. Forgan, a Chicago banker and financier.Hodges, V. Pa ...

, with a branch running from Altus to

Wellington, Texas Wellington is a city and county seat of Collingsworth County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,189 at the 2010 census. History Sometime in 1889 or 1890, as smaller ranches and farmlands were being purchased, Ernest Theodore O'Neil, h ...

. The network comprised 359.3 miles of track, and was collectively known as the Wichita Falls Route.

History

The original plan was for a line extending north from Wichita Falls through

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

Englewood, Kansas Englewood is a city in Clark County, Kansas Clark County (county code CA) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 1,991. Its county seat and most populous city is Ashland. Geograp ...

. Toward that goal, two companies were chartered: the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway Company of Texas on September 26, 1906 to construct the seventeen-mile stretch from Wichita Falls to the Red River, and a few days later the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway Company to do the rest. However, plans changed and the northern segment was redirected to

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, Altus, Elk City, and on to Forgan in the

Oklahoma Panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Cou ...

. The directors also decided on a branch going west from Altus to Wellington in the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

. That branch was to be built by subsidiaries of the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway. The Wichita Falls and Wellington Railway Company of Texas constructed the portion in Texas, and the Altus, Wichita Falls and Hollis Railway Company did the Oklahoma portion. The trackage to Altus, both from Wellington and from Wichita Falls, was completed in 1910.

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

, 34 Val. Rep. 293 (1930)
Valuation Docket No. 759, The Wichita Falls & Northwestern Railway Company
/ref> The continuation to Forgan was finished in 1912. The stock of all the companies was acquired by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (MKT) system in 1911. The Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway was merged into the MKT in 1923, with the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway Company of Texas following in 1969. The Wellington branch was merely leased by an MKT affiliate until that trackage was abandoned in 1958. The remaining line to Forgan was cut back to Altus in 1973, leaving approximately 77 miles of trackage from Wichita Falls to Altus. In June 1982, the

Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma secretary of transpor ...

(ODOT) acquired the 61.02 miles of trackage between Altus and the Oklahoma/Texas state line, while the UP ended up with the line from the border to Wichita Falls. In early 1991, the

Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway The Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway is a shortline railroad subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation that operates in Oklahoma and Texas. The line for which it is named extends from Wichita Falls, Texas to just north of Altus, Oklah ...

(WTJR), a brand new company, separately leased both segments of the line. and started service January 14, 1991. The Lease on the Union Pacific segment was renewed in 2010, and again in 2016 for 10 years. The Oklahoma segment was purchased by WTJR from ODOT around the end of 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway Oklahoma railroads Defunct Oklahoma railroads Texas railroads Defunct Texas railroads