Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway
Class I railroads, being the Union Pacific at Tulsa and the BNSF at Sapulpa,[2] and additionally connects to its fellow Class III shortline, the Sand Springs Railway, in Tulsa.[4] It is owned by the Collins Family Trust.[5] Major customers on the Sapulpa Lead include Technotherm, Prescor, and Ardagh Glass,[5] and on the Jenks Industrial Lead, the HF Sinclair oil refinery, Kentube, Word Industries, Pepsi Cola, and Kimberly-Clark.[6]
HistoryThe company started in 1907 as the Sapulpa & Interurban Railway, running electric trolley cars to carry workers between Sapulpa and various plants along the Glenn Pool and Sapulpa-area oil fields.[2] Running through sparsely-populated areas and carrying little freight, the line was bankrupt by 1912, but merged with another interurban line, the Oklahoma Union Railway, in an attempt to help both.[7] Oklahoma Union served Tulsa and communities to the southwest, and had unsuccessfully tried to reach Sapulpa.[7] After a second bankruptcy in 1917, the combined company was again reorganized as the Sapulpa Electric Interurban Railway, and in 1918 completed the connection between Sapulpa and Tulsa, giving it a total route of 25 miles of track.[7] The Sapulpa-Mounds line was abandoned in 1928, and the company went bankrupt again in 1929.[2] In 1933, passenger service ended in favor of freight, and by 1934 or 1935 George Collins bought the line to service his glass plant in Sapulpa.[7][5] His line was incorporated as the Sapulpa Union Railway, with the name later changing to the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway around 1943.[2][7]
Freight trains were operated by two electric boxcabs until 1955. The railroad purchased two Baldwin-Westinghouse electric locomotives from the Sand Springs Railway as replacements when that company ended electric operations that year. Electric freight trains continued on the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway until 1960, when the wires were taken down and diesel locomotives took over, including a Davenport Locomotive Works switcher and two EMD SW1s.[8] A third SW1 was purchased later, followed by an EMD SW7 and an EMD SW9. These were joined by an EMD SW1200 by 2001.[8] OperationsAbout 60% of rail traffic is inbound to customers on the line, while 40% of rail traffic is outbound.[3] The railway operates 5 days a week, through two locomotives with one shift each,[3] utilizing five employees.[5] Its offices are in Sapulpa, where a preserved interurban trolley, the Maggie M, is on display.[9] The current lease agreement with Union Pacific on the Jenks Industrial Lead was signed December 21, 2018 for an initial five-year term, which may be extended by TSU for an additional 15 years.[1] References
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