RailWorks crews spent a pair of winter months in southeast Kansas providing multiple upgrades along the Watco-owned South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL).
Production gangs out of the Southeast Region upgraded track to accommodate higher track speeds and to meet Federal Railroad Administration standards.
A rail gang worked on the Neodesha Subdivision, a 19-mile section between Cherryvale and Neodesha. After Hurricane Irene delayed the arrival of the originally ordered rail, the crew used jointed rail reclaimed from a RailWorks project for RailAmerica’s New England Central Railroad (NECR) in Vermont. In addition to installing the rail, they installed new ties and upgraded eight switches and 20 at-grade crossings. The project was funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation.