Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad
| Locale | Kansas, Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1902–1907 |
| Successor | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad (DE&G) was built as a short line railroad operating in Kansas, and Oklahoma. Incorporated in Oklahoma as the Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad Company, March 31, 1902, by the five Frantz Brothers.
In June 1902, construction started with grading at Enid, Oklahoma. Track laying began at Enid, reaching Guthrie, Oklahoma, on July 3, 1904. The first passenger train was an excursion train run from Enid to Guthrie on July 4, 1904. 1905 marked completion of the line northward from Enid to Kiowa, Kansas. The line from Guthrie to Kiowa was 117.10 miles (188.45 km). The Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad never reached its expressed terminals. When the Santa Fe acquired it, the line became a connecting link between its south bound Texas line at Guthrie, and its west bound California, Kansas, line at Kiowa.
On May 22, 1907, the Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad was sold to the Eastern Oklahoma Railway. Soon thereafter, on June 20, 1907, it was resold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
Starting at the south end of the line in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the DE&G departed from the AT&SF mainline just north of downtown and curved northwestward, paralleling, then crossing the sand-choked Cimarron River on a long wooden pile bridge. The line continued northwestward through several small farming communities, servicing grain elevators. A high wooden trestle carried the railroad across Skeleton Creek. At Enid, Oklahoma, the line crossed the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific Railroad) as well as two lines of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. In Enid the former AT&SF brick freight depot houses the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma, across the street from the classic Tudor AT&SF passenger station. Between Jet and Cherokee, Oklahoma, the line crossed the western portion of the salt flats at Great Salt Plains Lake for several miles atop an earth berm fill. North of Cherokee it bridged the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, including a long wooden trestle over the flood plain. At Kiowa, Kansas, the line terminated at a junction with the current BNSF Railway transcontinental line after passing through a cut about 10-foot (3.0 m) deep.
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