Okmulgee Northern Railway

The line was chartered December 15, 1915 under Oklahoma law, and completed October 8, 1916.[2] A snapshot of the company as of June 30, 1919 shows it with its headquarters in the city of Okmulgee, 1.710 miles of yard tracks and sidings, plus a single-track, standard-gauge mainline of 10.331 miles extending south from Okmulgee into the Deep Fork area.[2] The line traversed gently rolling terrain, with only one metal bridge which featured a 166-foot through-truss span on two pile piers.[2] From Deep Fork, the company had overhead trackage rights on 11.6 miles of the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Company—later reorganized as the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G)-- to Henryetta, Oklahoma, limited to passenger operations.[2][3] The line, primarily a freight-hauler, had one steam locomotive and only owned three passenger cars.[2] The company interchanged with the KO&G at Deep Fork, and with the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco) at Okmulgee.[2] The company was valued by the Interstate Commerce Commission as of 1919 at $321,000 for rate-making purposes.[2]

The line ran south from Okmulgee along the Deep Fork River carrying coal out of the Dewar, Coalton and Schulter producing areas.[1] The Thirty-sixth annual report of the Department of Mines and Minerals from 1943 shows combined production by coal companies in Coalton and Dewar of over 30,000 tons annually.[4] Production peaked in the Henryetta mining area in 1948, with numbers of mines shutting down thereafter.[5]

The ICC authorized abandonment of ON's entire line on May 18, 1964, and the railroad ceased operations on June 27, 1964.[6] All assets were sold to the Frisco.[6]

One mile of the railroad's old right-of-way is now incorporated in the Railroad Trail and River Overlook at the Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge.[1][7]

One of the ON's former steam locomotives is on static display at the Belton, Grandview and Kansas City Railroad, a museum and heritage railroad in Belton, Missouri.[8][9] Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) Cooke facility in 1923, the engine is a 2-8-0 Consolidation.[9] Due to be sold to Cuba after construction, it was stored for many years after the order was cancelled, and ended up being sold to the ON in 1933.[9] Numbered as engine #5 and nicknamed “Tommy,” it was retired from service in 1958.[1]