 |
Watco Companies, Inc. expands Stillwater Central Railroad to Snyder Oklahoma
Good morning:
I wanted to let you know of the successful efforts to acquire 120 miles of railroad in southwest Oklahoma from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).
Several years ago this company embarked on a partnership with the state of Oklahoma to connect the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKO) with Oklahoma City. To do that we created the Stillwater Central Railroad (SLWC) which had two subdivisions: operations between Sapulpa and Oklahoma City; and from Stillwater to the BNSF interchange at Pawnee, Okla. We have patiently worked with our Customers to move traffic between the SKO and the SLWC, and we have always kept in mind that the core values of our company would have the opportunity to pay big dividends in the future.
This week Watco Companies signed a contract with the BNSF to expand the SLWC by purchasing 120 miles of track from Oklahoma City, southwest to Snyder, Okla. We will close on the line December 28, and currently it is our plan to begin operations on the Snyder branch on January 2. This line is primarily industrial and adds several synergies to the SKO and potentially the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.
The Watco Transportation team is busy putting the pieces in place to make certain we have a smooth start-up. As we have done with start-ups in the past, we will be calling upon various profit centers to contribute to this effort. If you have an interest in helping with the SLWC expansion I strongly encourage you to make your desire known to your profit center manager.
We have a great relationship with our partners in the state of Oklahoma and the BNSF. I am personally looking forward to being in Oklahoma to meet our new Customers and share with them the core values, improved customer satisfaction, improved profitability and a long-term perspective, that have made this company successful.
Thank you for helping to make this expansion possible.
Sincerely,
RICK WEBB
President and CEO
