Kyle Railroad

The Kyle Railroad was formed for the 1982[1] Northern Kansas Harvest season by the Willis B. Kyle Organization, which consisted of several railroad properties, including the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. Included was about 243 miles (391 km) of trackage from Belleville, KS to Limon, CO, with trackage rights over the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad from Limon, CO to Colorado Springs, CO. Officially, on September 16, 1980, The Kyle Railroad signed with the MSPA (Mid-States Port Authority) a contract for the Hallam, NE to Limon, CO and Belleville, KS to Clay Center, KS line, as well as 90 miles (140 km) of trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad from Limon, CO to Denver, CO, totalling 455 miles (732 km). The Kyle Railroad acted as the MSPA's operator of these lines.

Recently the Kyle Railroad bought the tracks on which it operates from the MSPA.[2]

Power for the trains initially consisted of former Burlington Northern Railroad ALCO Century 425s, most tracing their heritage to the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. Kyle Railroad migrated to General Electric U30C and U33C power by the mid 2000s. After RailAmerica purchased Kyle, the legacy GE power was dropped in favor of EMD power, including former Burlington Northern SD40-2s and Southern Pacific SD40T-2s. The railroad also used to have an ex-Southern Pacific EMD SD45T-2, # 9362. With the purchase by Genesee and Wyoming, a number of MK5000C's provided by the Utah Railway (a fellow subsidiary of Genessee & Wyoming).

The railroad handles mostly agricultural commodities, although limited amounts of construction materials are carried. KYLE transported around 20,000 carloads in 2000.[1]

• Genesee & Wyoming -KYLE