BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org
CHERRYVALE — The Cherryvale area as well as South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, which has Cherryvale as its headquarters, will be the primary beneficiaries of a $10.2 million federal grant designed to enhance the railroad’s system in southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma.
The Kansas Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that it had been awarded a $10.2 million federal Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery II (TIGER II) grant that will be solely used to assist the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad with its rail operations in the Cherryvale area. The South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is headquartered in Cherryvale and extends through southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma. The short-line railroad is a subsidiary of Watco Transportation, Inc., which is based in Pittsburg, Kan.
“The South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad network is composed of large stretches of extremely old infrastructure with rails dating back from the early part of the 20th century,” said Kansas Department of ecretary of Transportation secretary Deb Miller. “A very high percentage of these components are well beyond their useful lives and are unable to perform as required under the stress of today’s industry standard heavy axle loads.”
Secretary Miller said the poor conditions limit capacity, train speeds and have the potential to lead to increased accidents and derailments. The result has been rising costs for shippers and reduced competitiveness.
Among the projects that will be funded through the grant will be the second phase of the relocation of the Cherryvale railroad switchyard. Construction is now underway for the railyard, which is being built south of the U.S. 400/169 junction north of Cherryvale.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will result in the relocation of railcar switching operations from the downtown Cherryvale area to the new railyard location.
A locomotive repair shop will also be permanently established
at the new switching area north of Cherryvale. The shop will involve the inspection, maintenance and repairs to a fleet of Watco’s 40 rail and switching locomotives.
Track improvements are in store for three stretches of South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad emanating from Cherryvale. They include:
• Cherryvale-Neodesha track improvements: The improvements will occur on the Neodesha Subdivision encompassing the corridor running east and west between the towns of Fredonia and Sherwin. The enhancements will be designed to reduce infrastructure related derailments, improve at-grade safety and improve track speeds on 17 miles of track.
• Cherryvale-Humboldt track improvements: Improvements will be made on 38 miles of track running north and south between Cherryvale and Humboldt. The work will include the installation of new ties, track surfacing and the replacements of failing track components.
• Cherryvale-Tulsa bridge improvements: Improvements will be made to bridges in a 99-mile-long corridor running north and south between Tulsa and Cherryvale allowing for heavier railcars and locomotives.
Under guidelines of TIGER II, 80 percent of the total project costs will be provided by the federal government. KDOT and the SKOL are each providing $1.7 million toward the project. TIGER II was a competitive grant program, a $600 million successor to the original $1.5 billion TIGER program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Rick Webb, Watco chief executive officer, was elated to learn of the news of the grant. He said the projects involving the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad will enhance the viability of transportation services in the region.
“It’s vital because it will allow additional freight traffic by diverting trucks to rail, thus reducing road maintenance costs. In addition, the increase in velocity and volume will lead to job creation at the railroad and customer level. These improvements will open opportunities to attract new industries to the area. We appreciate all our customers and the communities who participated in making this funding a reality,” said Webb.
State Sen. Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said, “Today’s announcement builds on many years of work to improve the flow of rail freight through Southeast Kansas. The timing of the grant will continue the momentum on the project and
will hasten the day when all switching operations will be moved away from downtown Cherryvale.”
