Osage Railway
{{Short description|Railway}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox rail
| railroad_name=Osage Railway
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| gauge={{track gauge|ussg}}
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| locale=Oklahoma
| length={{convert|16|mi|km|abbr=on}}
| start_year=1922
| end_year=1953
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The Osage Railway ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|oʊ|s|eɪ|dʒ}} {{respell|OH|sayj}}) was incorporated in 1921 to accommodate traffic from the oil fields located in the Osage Nation.{{cite web|url=https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00131/smu-00131.html| title= Muskogee Company records, Part 1| publisher= The University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas Libraries | accessdate=October 25, 2021}} The first part of its mainline was constructed in 1922 from a connection with the Midland Valley Railroad at Foraker, Oklahoma, to the town of Shidler, Oklahoma, about 10 miles southwest.{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FO016 |title=Foraker|publisher=Jon D. May, Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=October 26, 2021}}{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=SH033 |title=Shidler|publisher=Jon D. May, Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} The line was independently owned from the Midland Valley, but was jointly operated with the Midland Valley and two other lines as part of the Muskogee Roads. Beginning July 2, 1923 and completing in early 1924, the Osage Railway's trackage was extended northwesterly from Shidler through Webb City to Lyman, Oklahoma, about another 6 miles.{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WE004 |title=Webb City|publisher=Jon D. May, Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=October 26, 2021}}{{cite web|url= https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC59T30_osage-county-oklahoma-lyman?guid=f69cff0a-fcc8-4f54-8629-e5b244c51953 |title=Osage County, Oklahoma-Lyman|publisher=Geocaching|accessdate=October 26, 2021}}
Oil production in the area began to decline in the late 1920s and the start of the Great Depression lowered demand and prices.{{cite web|url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/ok/nations/osage/history/hstryosg.txt |title=History of the Osage|publisher= Sharon Hamilton, USGenWebArchives|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} The railroad managed to survive for a time by prudent management, but the entire line was abandoned in 1953.
Osage Railroad
The Osage Railway should not be confused with the Osage Railroad (ORR). That company, a unit of Watco, bought a 35-mile-long rail line between Tulsa and Barnsdall, Oklahoma from the Union Pacific (UP) in 1990.{{cite web|url= https://tulsaworld.com/archive/old-rails-may-become-trail/article_8520d1a1-7fe3-59d4-be8e-a3d91148db66.html |title=Old rails may become trail|date=28 December 2000 |publisher=Curtis Killman, Tulsa World, December 28, 2000|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} That trackage had been built as part of the Midland Valley in 1905.{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI008 |title=Midland Valley Railroad|publisher=Augustus J. Veenendaal, Jr., Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} It was included when the Midland Valley was acquired by a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1967, and became a UP line when the Missouri Pacific was merged into the UP in 1997.{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI045 |title=Missouri Pacific Railway|publisher=Augustus J. Veenendaal, Jr., Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=October 26, 2021}}{{cite web|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/oklahomahistory/4156200432/in/photostream/lightbox/ |title=Oklahoma 1989 Official State Railroad Map|date=3 December 2009 |publisher=Oklahoma Department of Transportation|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} But Watco abandoned the line in 2000,{{cite web|url= https://www.facebook.com/WatcoCompanies/photos/osage-railroad-1000-leads-a-south-kansas-oklahoma-railroad-train-in-the-moline-k/10155335611710518/ |title=Osage Railroad 1000 leads a South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad train in the Moline, KS yard in July 1991|publisher=Watco, July 19, 2018 (accessed on Facebook)|accessdate=October 26, 2021}} and at least part of the route subsequently became a multi-use rail trail.{{cite web|url= https://www.lpci.com/portfolio/osage-prairie-trail/ |title=Osage Prairie Trail|publisher=Landplan Consultants|accessdate=October 26, 2021}}
References
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{{Oklahoma railroads}}
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