Western Railroad Discussion > The Signs Of A Short Line

TSU (Tulsa Sapulpa Union) opperates out of Sapulpa, OK, home of their shops. And has a yard in west Tulsa, OK where trains get made up and also where the UP local interchanges with them. they run two trains a day, each with one switcher, Monday through Friday. One train to Jenks, and one to Sapulpa. Both make up their train in the Tulsa yard then go opposite directions.

Here, the Sapulpa train is seen headed to Sapula with hoppers for a glass plant he will switch on the way. Passing MP 1 with engine 108.

BNSF-6432
PQM

---

Nice looking unit! Are the SW-1's all gone from the roster?

Dick Samuels

Yes, they left as soon as they got all the SW1200s which was a long time ago. Can't remember when they switched. But one was picked up by a glass company and sat there forever, till about a year ago it became scrapped. I believe it was the last of the TSU SW1 survivors.
Here's a shot I grabbed of it 2 years ago.

---

A few years ago I met the GM, he was a railfan in spirit and an accomplished artist--hence the beautiful paint job!

I remember watching them switch a 1-car-at-a-time switchback to a siding in Sapulpa. Large covered hopper cars.

Note the "lightning-bolt" as part of the "herald" (logo/trademark) on the cab. TSU started out as an electric interurban, but abandoned rail passenger service in 1933. It ran freight service with electric power until the late 1950s, and has carried on with EMD switchers ever since. Last year, while we were traveling west through the area, I stopped at TSU headquarters for an official TSU cap, and took photos of the preserved Birney streetcar near the building. For the "roads scholars", historic Route 66 goes right through Sapulpa.