Denison and Washita Valley Railway
Overview
LocaleOklahoma and Texas
Dates of operation1886–1903
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Denison and Washita Valley Railway (D&WV) existed from 1886 to 1903. It had disconnected trackage, partially around Denison, Texas, and partially in a coal mining area in what is now Oklahoma with a line running between Atoka and Coalgate.

History

The D&WV was incorporated under Texas law January 8, 1886.[1] It was affiliated with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (the Katy), which had built through what was then Indian Territory—and specifically, through Atoka—and into Denison in 1872.[2][3] The D&WV's initial goal was to construct a line from Denison over the Territory to a point at or near Fort Smith, Arkansas.[4] Accordingly, authority to build in Indian Territory was duly obtained from the U.S. Congress.[4]

However, the backers of the company had limited financial reach,[4] and little trackage was actually built. In Indian Territory, the D&WV constructed 4.9 miles of rails from Lehigh to Coalgate in 1889, when the latter had just started shipping coal.[1][5][6] This, together with 9.7 miles of line from Atoka to Lehigh previously built in 1882 by the Katy, constituted all the trackage the D&WV ever owned in the Territory.[1] Around Denison, the company by early 1888 had five[7] to seven[8] miles of mainline track constructed, and by 1895 had added nothing more than two miles of yard tracks and sidings.[7] In that year of 1895, the D&WV had one locomotive and 119 freight cars, mostly operating in the Coalgate mining area.[7]

On May 13, 1903, the Texas portion, then being operated by a Katy affiliate, was sold to that company.[7] The Territory portion was split between the Katy and the Texas and Oklahoma Railroad.[1] Most of the trackage in Oklahoma was later leased to the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway in 1924.[1] By 1985 the Oklahoma trackage had been abandoned.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870 to April 1, 1978. State of Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Survey Division. April 1, 1978. pp. 50–53.
  2. ↑ "Atoka". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Denison". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Denison and Washita Valley Railway Company". U.S. Congress, 1890 (accessed on DigitalCommons, University of Oklahoma College of Law). Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Coal". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Coalgate". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Denison and Washita Valley Railway". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Chronological Records of Local Events in Denison for the Year 1888". Grayson County TX GenWeb. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Oklahoma City–Ada–Atoka Railway". Augustus J. Veenendaal, Jr., Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
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