Well, actually a 'burb of OKC, Midwest City...to Sapulpa, OK, SW of Tulsa.
A week ago the Stillwater Central Railway purchased the "Sooner Sub" line from the Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation. The aging route had been obtained from the BNSF Railway in 1998. The route runs congruent with old US66 between OKC and Tulsa and is planned for regular passenger service.
This is a good thing. When I was a boy you could take a train just about anywhere you wanted to go in Oklahoma. That ended in the '70s. I've always thought it was a shame. We had family strung out from Brownsville, Tx. to Norman, Ok. and the train was Granny Cash's preferred mode of travel. Riding the train to Aunt Lotta's with Granny was some pretty big stuff for a 5 year old...but I digress.
For those of you familiar with old 66 you might recognize this tressel outside of Warwick:
This is a part of the Sooner Sub line.
And a half mile north is Seaba's...An old gas station that the Seaba family owned. It was a machine shop and tractor repair for years. You could smell 90w gear oil just driving by. The Turk family up the road cornered the market on gasoline sales.
Nowadays Seaba's is an artsy-craftsy shop...I bet it still smells like gear oil.
Passenger service may start as early as 2015. Not much earth shattering news for most of you..but I'm pumped. All 'board!!
To travel from Vancouver, B.C to Victoria you take a ferry boat. You drive your car on and you have an hour and a half to get lunch or take in the sea breeze. Then you drive off and continue on your way. I often thought while driving the Turner Turnpike that some form of rail based ferry between OKC and Tulsa would be a much more enjoyable way to travel.
The way OKC is developing it's downtown could be amenable to a commuter rail. If Okies will have it.
So, no connection to the Heartland Flyer? Would be nice to catch a train from downtown Fort Worth to the kinfolk's place in Tulsa without having to bridge the gap from DT OKC to Midwest City.
Connections are the key.
I can take the Flyer from Norman to FW. And I can take Amtrak from Dallas to St. Louis to Chicago to Milwaukee. But I have to take a cab from FW to Dallas to get on another train.
Baby steps. Maybe someday train travel will enjoy a resurgence.
Wow. The Texas Eagle leaves Fort Worth at 2:20pm headed east/north (Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago) and 2:10pm headed south/west (Austin, San Antonio, LA). The Heartland Express arrives at 12:39p. If you're taking a cab to Dallas, you're doing it wrong.
Good news.
Now if we could only get them to bring back the Choctaw Route.
It must have changed in the last few years. We were planning to visit in-laws in Milwaukee in '06 and the connection just wasn't there.
That is a good thing!
