Watco recently began operating its 46th short line, the 3-mile Verdigris Southern Railroad (VESO) that serves the Port of Inola in Oklahoma.
VESO serves one customer at the inland port, paper products company Sofidel America. Sofidel’s paper mill received its first seven boxcars of compressed wood pulp in mid-April, Watco reports in its June newsletter.
Operations were able to begin after the Tulsa Port Authority completed necessary trackwork to reach the 2,500-acre industrial park. Watco’s South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad serves the authority’s Port of Catoosa, which is 15 miles away. The SKOL transferred a locomotive to Inola to provide service inside the park.
Sofidel, which is a new rail shipper, plans to convert more of its suppliers to rail moves. Watco also says there’s a potential to handle outbound moves of toilet paper, facial tissue, and paper towels.
Getting the railroad up and running has taken more than six years, Watco says. The port authority’s $12 million Inola rail project connected the short line and industrial park to the Union Pacific Wagoner Subdivision at milepost 594.76.
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