Kyle Railroad

KYLE 1757 undergoes repair at the Eastern Alabama Railway in Sylacauga, Alabama.
Overview
Headquarters	Phillipsburg, Kansas
Reporting mark	KYLE
Locale	Kansas, Colorado
Dates of operation	1982–present
Predecessor	Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length	556 miles (895 km)
Other
Website	https://www.gwrr.com/kyle/

The Kyle Railroad (reporting mark KYLE) is a regional railroad line that runs from North Central Kansas into Eastern Colorado. It is based in Phillipsburg, Kansas and runs on a 556 miles (895 km)^[1] track, mostly the former Rock Island Railroad Chicago to Denver main line. The Kyle was owned by RailAmerica from 2002 to 2012.^[1] Genesee & Wyoming Inc. bought RailAmerica in late 2012. As of 2023, KYLE holds 556 total miles (84 in Colorado and 471 in Kansas), has a maximum capacity of 286,000 gross pounds per railcar. KYLE also has two interchanges: BNSF(Courtland, Kansas and Concordia, Kansas); Union Pacific (Limon, Colorado and Salina, Kansas).^[2]

History

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 350 miles (560 km) of trackage from Belleville, KS to Limon, CO. Officially, on September 16, 1980, The Kyle Railroad signed with the MSPA (Mid-States Port Authority) a contract for the Mahaska, KS to Limon, CO and Belleville, KS to Clay Center, KS line. The Kyle Railroad acted as the MSPA's operator of these lines.

In 2009 the Kyle Railroad bought the tracks on which it operates from the MSPA.^[3]

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 SD45T-2s. With the purchase by Genesee and Wyoming, six MK5000C's (rebuilt as MK50-3s) provided by the Utah Railway (a fellow subsidiary of Genessee & Wyoming) now operate on the Kyle Railroad.

Traffic

The railroad handles mostly agricultural commodities, although limited amounts of construction materials are carried.