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 ...

into Eastern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, 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 wes ...

. 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 ...

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. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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 United ...

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 ...

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 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 Impossible Railroad" ...

, the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. Included was about of trackage from

Belleville, KS Belleville is a city in and the county seat of Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,007. History Belleville was founded in 1869, and incorporated as a city in 1878. It was named for A ...

Limon, CO Limon is a statutory town that is the most populous municipality in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,880 at the 2010 United States Census. Limon has been called the "Hub City" of Eastern Colorado because Inters ...

, with trackage rights over the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad from

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 Hallam is a village in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 213 at the 2010 census. History Hallam was platted in 1892 when the Chicago, Rock Island and ...

and

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 Pac ...

from

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 Uni ...

, 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 merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

ALCO Century 425s, 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 of ...

. 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'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