LOCAL RAILROAD MAY HAVE A FUTURE -- OR IT MAY NOT
 By Dave Webb
 Comanche County's railroad connection will stay in place -- for a few more months, at least.

 But it will take a commitment by local shippers and help from the Kansas Legislature before any trains again run into the county.

 Those facts were made evident at two meetings held Tuesday in Protection. Nearly 40 people attended one or both sessions.

 Sponsored by the Comanche County Economic Development Foundation, the gatherings brought together several groups that are key to the future of railroad service in the county -- the railroad itself, shippers, legislators and the public.

 Ed McKechnie, Director of Governmental Affairs for Watco Companies, Inc., represented the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad. K&O took possession of the former Englewood subdivision through Comanche County on June 30.

 Meeting at 10 a.m. with local shippers and legislators -- and again at noon with the public -- McKechnie gave a brief corporate history of Watco and its railroad operations. Based in Pittsburg, Kans., the company has rail holdings in several states. "We're here to run a railroad," he said. "We're not a salvage company. We want to provide shippers with an alternative to trucks."

 "But, I'm not much of a poker player," McKechnie laughed. "I'm laying all five of my cards face up." He then outlined the hard facts of what it would take to retain rail service to Comanche County.

 Based on the standard railroad rule of thumb of 20 car movements per mile per year, the 46.2 miles between Coats (in Pratt County) and Protection should generate 924 cars per year, he said. That would offset normal track maintenance, labor expenses and other costs.

 Shipping records from grain co-ops east of Coats will guarantee continued service to that area. But only 38 cars of grain have moved out of Comanche County by rail since the spring of 1997; the rest has traveled by truck.

 Can shippers on this line generate 900-plus cars a year?

 Of the several past and potential shippers at Tuesday's meetings, the key player in the equation is Farmers Cooperative Co. Headquartered in Haviland, Farmers Co-op owns elevators along the local rail line in Protection, Coldwater and Wilmore.

 Mark Kieffer, president and general manager of the cooperative, said 600 cars, or two million bushels, is a more workable figure from this area. The number of acres in the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program and the havoc played by the weather on several recent harvests have cut the amount of grain produced locally.

 With that lower figure on the table, McKechnie said he would return to Watco headquarters and prepare a package based on the lower numbers.

 "Perhaps year-round service isn't necessary out here," he replied. "Hopefully we can work up figures based on 24-week service."

 "We would need cars during wheat harvest," Kieffer added. In recent years, the former owner of the rail line, Central Kansas Railway, was not always efficient or even eager to provide cars.

 Watco bought the local line as part of a 920-mile package purchased from CKR. The sale was facilitated by the 2001 Kansas Legislature which passed a bill authorizing a port authority out of Pittsburg, Watco's corporate home.

 Several state legislators were on hand Tuesday, including Rep. Dennis McKinney, Greensburg; Sen. Ruth Teichman, Stafford; Sen. Tim Huelskamp, Fowler; and Sen. Larry Salmans, Hanston. Rep. Richard Alldritt, Harper, was scheduled to take part, but an emergency called him back to his job as Harper's city clerk.  Mel Thompson, Medicine Lodge, and Mike Zamrzla, Hutchinson, were also at the meeting. Thompson deals with agriculture-related issues for Sen. Pat Roberts and Zamrzla is on Rep. Jerry Moran's staff.

 The state and federal legislators heard concerns from local residents about safety and highway damage caused by increased truck traffic as rail service has declined. Questions were also asked about the possibility of a Rails-to-Trails group taking over the Comanche County right of way if the line was abandoned. "Watco supports the preservation of rail corridors," McKechnie said, "but I'm here to talk about building railroad service, not abandoning it."

 County Commissioners Wayne Woolfolk and Velma Basnett, also on hand, commented that the group that had taken over the right of way from Protection on west had not met all the state requirements to maintain a trail in Comanche County.

 Back on the issue of continuing railroad service, McKechnie praised the efforts of the legislators from this region in securing passage of the port authority bill in the last session. But more help is needed, he said. High on the agenda in the 2002 session will be a measure to grant a $500,000 income tax credit to Watco for repairing track.

 Similar to the tax credit plan that has diverted over $200,000 in state income tax revenue into the new Protection Township Library building fund, the tax credit for Watco would generate just over $6 million for track improvements to upgrade lines over a 20-year period.

 Passage of the tax credit bill, McKechnie said, would go to help repair the segment from Coats to Protection. Because of the reduced traffic in this area in recent years, Watco is reluctant to spend other money on capital improvements on this section of the line.

 Help from the state level would assist in those improvements, he said -- if there is a commitment from shippers to use rail service.

 The Watco official said he planned to return to Comanche County to visit further with local shippers. Based on those meetings, his company will make a decision by March 2002 on the future of the local line.

 At the meeting's close, Charlie Swayze, manager of the Farmers Co-op Equity in Isabel, spoke to the group.

 Swayze has long been a proponent of railroad service. He has been pleased with Watco and the K&O's efforts to provide his chain of elevators with cars. He encouraged local residents not to leave the meeting and forget about the issue.  "The grain business is tough," he said. "Don't put all this off on your co-op. Everyone in Comanche County needs to work to find other rail shippers and different economic uses of the railroad."

 Repeating what others had said several times during the Tuesday sessions, Swayze added, "Once this rail line is gone, it is gone for good. Your economic future depends on actions you take now.

 Who knows what developments might someday make use of the railroad - if it is still here. I'd encourage everyone to join together to make this work."