By Justin Franz

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is seeking a new operator for the former Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad, which was shut down by the Federal Railroad Administration earlier this year. 

On October 11, the Oklahoma & Kansas Railroad, part of the Mississippi-based Rock Island Rail, was informed that its lease was terminated only months after agreeing to take control of the line. A letter from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation posted on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board website alleged that the operator had made no effort to rehabilitate the line. 

The shortline covers roughly 37 miles of mostly ex-Santa Fe track between Blackwell, Okla. and the BNSF mainline in Wellington, Kan., with a short stretch of Frisco trackage in Blackwell. Ownership of the line is split between the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Blackwell Industrial Authority.

In a statement to Railfan & Railroad, Blackwell Industrial Authority Executive Director Charlene Flanery stated that the authority and state were already in talks with a new operator. 

The Blackwell Northern Gateway made headlines earlier this year when the FRA issued a rare emergency order shutting it down, stating the operation posed an “imminent threat” to public safety. Rock Island Rail was then appointed the emergency operator. In August, Rock Island briefly secured a long-term lease for the line.