Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway
The Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway is a shortline railroad subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation that operates two disconnected lines in Oklahoma and Texas, mostly owned by the state of Oklahoma. The line for which it is named extends from Wichita Falls, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma, through Wichita, Tillman, and Jackson Counties. It was completed by the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway and Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway of Texas in 1910, and became part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway system in 1911. The line was cut back from Forgan, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, to Altus in 1973, and operations were transferred to the WTJR in January 1991. The other line, from Waurika to Walters, is a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad branch, leased to the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, an MKT subsidiary, after the Rock Island's abandonment in 1980, and transferred to the WTJR in 1991.
In January 2010 it was announced that the WTJR planned to buy a line from Burkburnett, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma that the railroad had previously leased from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The deal was to be completed by the middle of the month.
At one time there was a small spur stretching from Walters, Oklahoma to Waurika, Oklahoma that tied in to the Union Pacific Railroad in north downtown Waurika. A majority of that track has since been removed and a 1,000' section remains from the track switch in Waurika, which is now used to store track maintenance equipment used by the UPRR
Walters to Waurika is no longer in use.
