West Tulsa Belt Railway

The railway was organized July 1, 1909.^[1] Its president and stockholder was W.E. Hawley of Hawley Engineering Company.^[1][2] Sources differ as to the purpose of the line: one says it was to connect the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco) with the Midland Valley Railroad;^[2] another says it was just to connect the Frisco to the privately owned tracks of The Texas Company.^[1] The Texas Company, later known as Texaco,^[3] already had oil storage facilities in West Tulsa, and was beginning work on a major refinery in February 1910.^[4] In any event, after construction of the WTB had started in September 1909,^[4] the stock of the company was purchased the following year by Joseph S. Cullinan, president and founder of The Texas Company, who continued construction.^[1][3] He in turn sold his stock to the Frisco.^[1] The Frisco completed the line on November 13, 1910.^[1] Under the terms of a written operating agreement, the trackage was run by the Frisco with its own equipment and personnel from the first day.^[1]

Following a takeover of operation of the railway by the US Railroad Administration during the First World War,^[1] Frisco was given permission to acquire the railroad's line and assets by order of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on August 5, 1922.^[5] The Texaco refinery in West Tulsa, later sold to Sinclair Oil and eventually ending up with HF Sinclair, continues in operation today.^[6][7]