The Indian Territory Traction Co. was granted its franchise December 10, 1901 for a period of 40 years.[1] Its proposed route map was accepted by the Secretary of the Interior on July 25, 1903.[1] The basic system was built In the 1903-1904 timeframe.[2] It first linked the northern and southern parts of what became the unified town of McAlester in 1907, the area being a coal mining and rail transportation center.[3] It continued southeast through Krebs, Alderson, Bache, and Haileyville before terminating in Hartshorne.[4][5]
After the franchise was passed through a third party to the Choctaw Electric Co., Indian Territory Electric was consolidated with Choctaw Electric to form Choctaw Railway & Lighting Co. on February 1, 1908.[1] When the power company was split from the transportation business in 1916, the transportation side was incorporated as the Pittsburg County Railway Co. on June 24 of that year.[6][7] On August 27, 1928, this became a subsidiary of Public Service Company of Oklahoma (“PSO”).[4][2]
The system under PSO consisted of the 18.44-mile main line, but spur lines within towns and connecting tract to other railroads brought total trackage to about 23.29 miles.[4] The railway carried both passengers and freight, the latter consisting of mail and (mostly) grains, particularly corn and oats.[4]
The line remained active through World War II, including by delivering canned goods to a POW camp near the town's northern limit, and the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot to the south.[4][3] But PSO, being forced to divest non-utility assets, sold the railroad November 26, 1945.[4] Given the popularity of the automobile and other changes in the postwar economy, the line shut down December 2, 1946.[4][8]