Land Rush Rail Corp., a division of Farmrail, will lease and run about 37 miles of track in Oklahoma and Kansas previously operated by the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad, according to filings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

Owned by the Blackwell Industrial Authority and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the line runs from Wellington, Kan., to Blackwell, Okla. The previous operator, Blackwell Northern, was shut down by the Federal Railroad Administration in early 2024 because of what the FRA called “a complete disregard for the safety of the public” involving a “pattern of gross negligence and willful failures to comply with federal safety regulations.” Rock Island Rail briefly operated the line last year as an emergency operator. —M.T. Burkhart