The Buffalo and Northwestern Railroad was a railway extending from Waynoka, Oklahoma to Buffalo, Oklahoma, passing through Freedom, Oklahoma. About 52 miles in length,[1] the line was completed in May, 1920 and sold to another railroad in June, 1920.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Buffalo, Oklahoma |
| Locale | Oklahoma |
| Dates of operation | 1919–1920 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 52 mi (84 km) |
History
editWhen citizens of Harper County decided to link their county seat of Buffalo with the railroads,[2] Waynoka was an appealing destination: that locale had been founded in 1888 on the rail line of a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), and by 1908 it had the largest railyards in Oklahoma.[3] Accordingly, the Buffalo and Northwestern Railway Company was incorporated in Oklahoma on April 10, 1916. [4] However, that company was subsequently reorganized, and in its place the Buffalo and Northwestern Railroad Company was incorporated in Oklahoma on July 18, 1919.[4] Work was pursued on a line from Waynoka, passing through Woods and Woodward countries and into Harper, with the task completed in May, 1920 when the trackage reached Buffalo.[1][5] The line was about 52 miles in length.[1]
The town of Freedom was bypassed by the tracks.[6] However, so important was the railroad that the town relocated to be on the line.[6]
The railroad’s independent existence was short-lived. The line was purchased by the AT&SF on July 1, 1920.[5] Much later, the AT&SF filed for abandonment of 51 miles of the line, doing so on November 15, 1982.[1] This has left Buffalo with no rail service.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "The Buffalo District". AbandonedRails.com. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ "Harper County, Oklahoma, County History". GenealogyTrails. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ "Waynoka". Sandra Barker Olson, Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ a b "Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978, p.34". Oklahoma Department of Transportation, April 1, 1978. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- ^ a b "Buffalo". Maxine Bamburg, Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ a b "75th Anniversary Cimarron Cowboys Association" (PDF). Doyle Wardrop and Kay Decker, Ed.D. (accessed on Northwestern Oklahoma State University website). Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ "Oklahoma 2018-2020 State Railroad Map" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 22, 2021.