Short Line Railroads Keep Trains A-Rolling Through the Junction By: Mary Logan Wolf

Older folks recall the big rail days, when an endless string of railroad cars clanked, rumbled and whistled through Oklahoma burgs. For rural towns, the crosshatch of long steel tracks and wooden ties provided a vital link to the larger economic doings of country on the move. Whether a town thrived - or withered - was often measured in miles of track passing through or bypassing a community. Such decisions sparked feuds, rivalries and at least one corny, 60s era situation comedy called "Petticoat Junction." Nowadays, it's still a measure of miles, but towns like the fictional Hooterville are more likely to squabble over the location of the next super Wal-Mart than to dicker over train service; that is, until the trains roll on to greener pastures. Such a situation existed in 1980, when the passage of the Staggers Act removed large Class I rail companies from federal regulations and allowed them to drop unprofitable lines. Class Is include the giants such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which typically carry one type of commodity over hundreds of miles. "In the 80s, 30 percent of our big railroad companies were going bankrupt. Loosening federal controls allowed these companies to identify what was profitable and what wasn't," said John Kyle, director of the Oklahoma Railroad Association. In Oklahoma, some1,500 miles of track were declared unprofitable, leaving rural industry and agriculture to face a future with no lifeline to major domestic and foreign markets. In Hooterville, a move like that would prompt the town's overall-clad citizens to action, launch a pig to stardom and temporarily resolve itself in thirty minutes, leaving viewers to anticipate next week's peek at women's underwear dangling from a rural water tower. But that's Hooterville. In Oklahoma, the reality of saving rural lines - and rural communities - from extinction, took a considerable bit more time, and resulted in more far-reaching success than the petticoat-clad capers at Shady Rest. Here, the role of town hero fell to the smaller, less profitable yet more service-oriented short line railroads. Today, thirteen short line railroad companies either own or operate leasing agreements for some 868 miles of track that link our power plants, timber, oil, agriculture, oil and manufacturing industries to larger railroad lines, bigger ports and better markets. Where larger companies, bound by tighter labor restrictions, were unable to operate profitably, small short lines stepped in to take up the slack. Short line railroad, are just what the name implies, shorter trains hauling over less distance and carrying mixed freight from a number of customers. Short lines in Oklahoma rode in like the cavalry some twenty years ago, a direct response to railroad deregulation. Small corporations like Farmrail, the first short line to locate here, answered the cry of the state of Oklahoma who had purchased abandoned line from the big companies and needed operators, fast. "We arrived on the scene at the request of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, in the interest of keeping opportunity open for existing and new industry in areas where the economy is fragile," recalls George Betkey, executive director of Farmrail Corporation. Farmrail headquarters out of Clinton and operates 354 miles of track in southwest Oklahoma linking several large industries as well as 30 grain elevators - all spaced a mere 10 to 11 miles apart - to larger lines. "Major railroads won't provide that kind of service," Betkey added. "They want 110-car trains running grain from one elevator to one location. If they had their way, all county elevators would disappear." Other small networks such as the Kiamichi Railroad in southeastern Oklahoma bring in tons of loads of coal to fuel the Western Farmers Electric Cooperative power plant in Hugo. The Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern line, hauls timber for Weyerhaeuser and other short lines cater to local industries on which rural communities depend. All short lines place customer service at the top of their list and in their own right, are big boosters of local economy. In Clinton, Farmrail's 35 employees operate a fleet of seventeen locomotives and 100 freight cars carrying some seven to eight thousand carloads every year. It takes 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel to keep Farmrail trains rolling, and every drop is purchased locally. "We try to do as much business locally as possible," said Rodney Roof, manager of marketing and business development for Farmrail. In addition, Farmrail is a key player in local economic development activities, reaching far beyond its role as area shipper to promote the region to out-of-town tourists. Just recently, Farmrail refurbished a three-car passenger train that will run as an excursion train. Beginning at Quartz Mountain Lodge, the train will travel to Lone Wolf, a one and half hour round trip through the rugged Quartz Mountains. "We are in the game as far as industrial and economic development goes," admits Betkey. Such caring, unheard of in the big rail days, is welcomed by local industry such as the U.S. Gypsum Plant. Located in Southard, U.S. Gypsum ships 150 varieties of gypsum that is processed into products like aspirin tablets, ceramics, fiberglass shower stalls and wallboard. Farmrail trains service this plant daily, but it wasn't until they took over the job, that the U.S. Gypsum plant representative actually met their shipping providers. Recalling his first call on U.S. Gypsum, Betkey said, "The plant manager looked at me rather surprised and said, "I've been on this job for seven years and I've never seen anyone from the railroad!"' That's service: The kind that attracted the Doane Pet Food facility to Clinton. The largest producer of pet food in the United States, Doane operates 26 facilities nationwide and relies on large rail shipments of commodities to produce pet food for private labelers like Pedigree and Ol' Roy. The location of rail service was a key factor in Doane's decision to locate a facility in Clinton. Today, the plant employees 130 people and pumps near $25 million into the local economy every year. "It's the perfect example of the kind of business that can be attracted to a small community," Betkey says. "It's Oklahoma employees in an Oklahoma plant adding value to commodities." In many cases, short lines allow companies to increase their profits by shipping more products more economically than if transported by truck. "The heavier the load, the more economical it is to ship by rail," Roof pointed out. "One covered grain hopper can handle 100 tons of grain. You'd need four trucks to handle that." Of course, this advantage drops if trains can't move fast enough. Most short line companies run on the rail laid nearly 100 years ago. "Infrastructure is our biggest challenge," Betkey said. "In 1907, rail cars weighed around 50 tons. Today the industry standard is 143 tons per car. This means we have to operate at slower speeds with shorter trains and lighter cars." Fixing crumbling ties and rails isn't cheap. Farmrail spends around $5,000 per mile in annual maintenance costs. Worse yet, new track construction costs $1 million per mile. Railroads lobby for more money to improve their infrastructure by pointing out that the load has to go somewhere. If not shipped by train, large loads are forced to travel by truck. "That means extra trucks on the highway, beating up our roadway system," Betkey said. One bill currently before the U.S. Congress would provide $350 million in funds to upgrade certain trackage and bridges, but the Oklahoma Railroad Association, lobbying arm for both small and large rail companies, says more is needed. "We must upgrade our system to handle the modern rail car," says John Kyle, ORA executive director. When you consider the fact that the nation's 550 short lines are involved in 33 percent of freight movement in the U.S., the decision on where to place the improvement dollar is indeed a weighty issue. In Oklahoma, short lines have proved they are capable of stretching a tight budget over miles of aging track by responding to local needs with the golden rule for small business: service at the customer's convenience. And they've accomplished this with no loss of operators in well over sixteen years. "Our mission in life is to keep our businesses online and connected to the national system, and to preserve development opportunities for our rural communities," Betkey said. That's one sure way to keep the trains a-rolling through the junction.