More funny stories.

In the early 90s, the Central Oklahoma Railfan Club, as it was then known, began looking at prospects for a railway museum in Oklahoma City.

This would mean closing out the old Watonga Chief dinner train -- promoted and run by volunteers of the club -- and bringing that equipment back to the metro. A big order.

We began looking at obvious locations. One such place was the former MKT passenger yard on the south side of Reno between Lincoln and the Santa Fe elevation. You may remember the huge old Katy freight house there -- which was the only surviving Katy structure. It was used for years by Cardinal Paper.

The yard was still full of tracks -- albeit comprised of the MKT's 85 lb per yard rail and ties and ballast needing replacement. It might have been a great materials resource for real "light rail" or vintage trolley service. The yard was large enough to make a good multimodal center.

One of our eventual board members' business was directly across the street from the old freight house. This man had put out many fires in the structure over the years -- mostly started by vagrants trying to keep warm or cook.

About the time we made it known to Union Pacific that we were seriously considering making an offer on the property, one morning just before dawn, the historic Katy freight house "mysteriously burned to the ground."

Hmmm.

By the way -- there was at least one, full rail loop around Bricktown in those days, and delivery and other tracks in every alleyway. Most of this was thoughtlessly scrapped and done away.

We also looked at the Rock Island yard. Got close enough to an agreement that club members went in and cleaned up the whole area. A longtime Bricktowner "ran in ahead of us" and wanted us to then lease the facility from him.

We thought better of the whole arrangement. But, along the way, we got very familiar with all the rail assets and their ownership, purpose, and the plans that those in control of them had made for them.

Ultimately, after years and years of hard work, the Oklahoma Railway Museum was established at 3400 NE Grand -- in an old oil field pipe yard up on the old KATY line that once ran to Cushing and points northeast. Agreements were made with COTPA, which by that time owned the line, and it was cut out the briar thicket that had enveloped it for many years by club volunteers, and a long gap in the track replaced to reconnect it to the nation's mains.

On the day of the "first big event" at Ernie Istook's $70 + million "river project," the real crowd was at the Railway Museum -- parents, grandparents and children from all over the region -- riding the ORM line behind Thomas the Tank Engine.

That line connects to OKC Union Station via Bricktown -- if there's still any track left in Bricktown....

Oh -- and the "building in question" in the preceeding thread is the old Rock Island freight house. Would've made a great rail transit stop between Union Station and Remington Park.

....and, yes, it was Oklahoma Railway Museum request, owing to the outfit's official status as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, that helped fund the legal work that kept the OKC Council, Public Works Czar Paul Brum, the Bricktown Association and "the state's largest newspaper" from destroying the Walnut Bridge.

The Bridge was refurbished / rebuilt -- yielding even more parking in the old CRI&P freight yard than would have been possible without it -- although the task of saving it was pronounced "impossible." The work was done by determined Oklahomans who had done their homework -- and wouldn't take "no" for an answer."

....but they weren't invited to the "official grand reopening of the bridge."

What was the price of gasoline, again, this morning?

Is this a great state -- or what?

TOM ELMORE