Stillwater Central Railroad Rebuilds Bridge After Oklahoma Wildfires

RTandS Written by Jennifer McLawhorn May 01, 2025

CHANDLER, Okla. - In Watco's newsletter, it documented the Stillwater Central Railroad's efforts to rebuild a rail bridge after it sustained damage from a wildfire on March 14th.

130 wildfires swept across the state of Oklahoma and burned through more than 170,000 acres. Stillwater Central Railroad, or SWLC, “suffered the loss of a bridge,” according to Watco. The eight-span, timber bridge measured 108 feet long and was located at mile marker 494.9 on SLWC’s Sooner Subdivision. The bridge serves a main connection between Tulsa and Oklahoma City and “allows access to interchanges with BNSF and another Watco short line, the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.” Crews were able to work to get the line back up and running within 12 days.

SLWC general manager Travis Schnelle said, “We stopped operations a couple hours before things got bad and sent most of the team home in the interest of safety. . . By the time we got the call, the bridge was a total loss, so we focused on saving the next one. The fire department was able to stop the fire about 500 feet away.”

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