Fred's lesson in humility

Let this be a lesson to all: When you visit a short line railroad, in particular a really short line railroad, go to the front door and knock to be let in. Tom Hoback and I learned this the hard way today in Woodward, Okla.

I wager that few of you ever knew or now remember that Woodward, astride BNSF Railway's Chicago-Los Angeles Transcon in northwest Oklahoma, was also once trod by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, or Katy. Katy was primarily a railroad running from Kansas City and St. Louis to Houston and San Antonio. But in the 1920s, it acquired several railroads running from Wichita Falls, Tex., through Altus and Woodward to Forgan, Okla. And in 1931, through purchase of the Beaver Meade & Englewood, the Katy got to the western tip of Oklahoma's panhandle.

For several decades it operated this wayward territory as Katy's Northwest District, but the line was really busy only a few months a year, as crops were harvested. The historic drought of the 1950s became the beginning of the end for the Northwest District, which never recovered. As documented in Don Hofsommer's doctoral thesis, which became the book "Katy Northwest" (Indiana University Press), the line hung on by its thumbs for years afterward and was abandoned northwest of Altus in 1973.

But not in Woodward. A succession of owners, four in all, kept a 4.8-mile section of the Katy line in operation on the edge of Woodward, as the Northwest Oklahoma Railroad. And it was the current owner, Mark Clemence, who spotted a strange Dodge Durango driving across his property to inspect his two fine-looking switching locomotives (he operates a third locomotive that's not so fine looking, and scavenges a fourth for parts). I spotted Mark's SUV gunning for us and, very embarrassed, waited for him to catch up.

Tom and I introduced ourselves and apologized for not asking permission to be on NOKL property. Mark's attitude thawed a bit (a lot, really), and we chatted for a few minutes. Woodward is at the center of a lot of oil and gas drilling, and NOKL's yard was jammed with 42-foot covered hoppers holding fracking sand. Other commodities are handled. The trackage looks wonderful, not what you'd expect of a tiny switching railroad. And the two switchers I photographed looked as if they had been on the wash rack that morning. Mark called his little railroad "a real nice family business."

Later I emailed Mark another apology, and he replied: "Have a lot of visitors come by, some snoopers, some rail fanning, always have to check. I am former Santa Fe (Plains Division). Thank you for your compliments on our operation. Been here 32 years, did not look like this when I started."

By the way, you may wonder (as I did) whether all those cars we see with the reporting mark NOKL belong to this railroad. The answer, says Mark, is no. Northwest Oklahoma sold the right to use its reporting mark to a car leasing company.

I doubt that Mark Clemence wants every reader of this blog to visit the NOKL. But if your travels take you through Woodward, it's worth a look. Just be sure to knock on the door.--Fred W. Frailey