Farmrail Corporation summary
Farmrail Corporation (FMRC) is a Class III short line railroad operating in the western Oklahoma area. It’s one of two subsidiaries under Farmrail System Incorporated, a holding company that’s owned by the employees who have direct involvement with the daily operations and overall business. A total of 171 miles of standard-gauge track is used alongside the 178-mile Grainbelt Corporation to serve Oklahoma’s 29 communities in 12 counties.
History
Farmrail Corporation’s parent company, Farmrail System was formed in November 1981 by George Betke to lease and operate 35 miles of the former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad’s Sunbelt Line from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Operations between Clinton and Elk City began shortly afterwards under Farmrail Corp. The railroad has since experienced significant growth with track extensions east to Weatherford and west to Erick, returning 82-total miles of the ex-Sunbelt Line to service. In 1993, the railroad began leasing 89 miles of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway’s Orient Line between Westhom and Elmer. Ownership of the line was turned over to Farmrail System in 2013.
Operations
More than 50 consumers use Farmrail Corporation for freight haulage. The territory along the line holds some of the nation’s prime production of hard-red winter wheat, the highest-quality of gypsum deposits, and one of the largest energy reserves in the Anadarko Basin. Frac sand is the top commodity on the railroad as it’s delivered to six transloading locations for the drilling sites in a five-county region. Farmrail also partners with the BNSF Railway in agriculture traffic by the way of double handling. Unit grain trains on the Class I railroad are shuttled with the short line’s own fleet of covered hoppers added on and rotated. While the section between Clinton and Altus can be void of traffic outside the grain season, rock is still delivered from the quarry at Long to Elk City’s distribution center for use in construction projects.
Nearly a dozen secondhand EMD diesel locomotives provide the motive power on Farmrail Corp. The bulk of the fleet over the years were the GP9s before being phased out due to the increase in traffic. The variety now ranges from GP10s to GP38s, wearing the livery of the Farmrail System.
Clinton is where Farmrail Corporation interchanges with Grainbelt Corp. From there, the FMRC connects with both BNSF Railway and the Wichita, Tillman & Jackson Railroad at Altus. Trackage rights are also provided from Altus to the BNSF interchange in Quanah, Texas.
Read more about the Farmrail Corporation in Trains’ April 2015 issue.
