Reading the 3/83 all Rock Island issue, one of the best monthly issues ever, came across a metion of Okarche Central that briefly operated defunct trk in Okla in between the Katy shutdowns. Does anyone have any knowledge of this short lived rr? When did it actually start?
A story in 1982 describes how some tie work to restore the track was followed by an influx of 'red hoppers'. Remember that you'll find more if you look for 'Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas" than just MKT.
It is possible that this railroad (which had letters OKCE) might have been owned by the same entity that had NCTK, ENIC, and NCOK at this time, and I'd have to wonder if the justification for having separate little railroads at this time was related more or less strongly to the evolving per-diem lease market.
Note that (although not related to Okarche Central the entity) there is a whomping big transload facility (for fracking) just north of Okarche, near Kingfisher, on what is now the UP. The 2018-2020 PDF map of Oklahoma railroads may be of interest.
Overmod A story in 1982 describes how some tie work to restore the track was followed by an influx of 'red hoppers'. Remember that you'll find more if you look for 'Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas" than just MKT. It is possible that this railroad (which had letters OKCE) might have been owned by the same entity that had NCTK, ENIC, and NCOK at this time, and I'd have to wonder if the justification for having separate little railroads at this time was related more or less strongly to the evolving per-diem lease market. Note that (although not related to Okarche Central the entity) there is a whomping big transload facility (for fracking) just north of Okarche, near Kingfisher, on what is now the UP. The 2018-2020 PDF map of Oklahoma railroads may be of interest.
I'd be quite interested in your project as I started out on the "OKT Sub" as UP called it in 1991 when I started in Enid.
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