Gentlemen,
After shutdown of Rock Island in 1980, an outfit named Nelson Car Co acquired the car shops @ El Reno. What repair work did the firm perfrom and how long were they active there?
By 1985, the yard, shops and facilities were all sold to a real estate investor (Brewer & Taylor?) by Chicago Pacific after Gibbons had bowed-out. Railcar repair outfits are rarely solvent. Suspect they leased and did not own. Later on Sunbelt Railcar Repair had a fairly long run in El Reno and appeared to quit about two years before they flattened the shops in early (Feb?) 2016 ...Local GIS shows the shops area now owned by a Lila Land Co of Tulsa since 2001 after a Tax Lien sale. Gibbons sold the north 2/3rds of the yard to the State of Oklahoma in 1982 and UP got it in 2012. the south 1/3rd of the yard went through a string of speculators (Today it's RJR Transloading). Nelson shows nowhere in the chain of title.
Interesting.A 1987 Katy system track list book shows "Nelson Car Company" listed as the client for the El Reno propety. Of course, railroad printed documents are not always correct in what is stated either.
As the mudchicken implied, it's possible (probable?) that Nelson Car Company leased the property. They would still be an MKT client even though they didn't own the property.
Nelson would have been a client of OKT--not MKT. Fishing for info on a possible OKT book but after talking w/publishers and doing market research, Katy books do not sell well. Reason why an OKT book has not been produced. Publisher who did my SF shortline book did a Katy book,and it became one of his worst flops.
What little is left out there seem to indicate Nelson was into tank car & hopper car linings and repairs. HQ in OKC.
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