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SKOL Wins Business Development Award
by OneWatco
The South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) received recognition for investing in its customers and infrastructure at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) annual conference in Denver on April 8.
The SKOL earned a 2025 Business Development Award for its role in helping Bartlett Grain locate a $375 million soybean processing facility near Cherryvale, Kansas. The ASLRRA presents the award to short lines that demonstrate leadership and innovation to benefit their shippers and communities, with advancements in service, operations, and economic development. SKOL General Manager Jerry Waun, Sales Manager Casey Harbour, and Vice President of Railroad Sales Brett Jensen accepted the award.
After nearly five years of planning and work, Bartlett opened its new soybean crush plant along the short line in mid-2024. The SKOL was involved from the beginning, even helping locate the site for the facility. This confidence was inspired by the service the SKOL has been providing to Bartlett’s mill in Coffeyville, Kansas, for more than 30 years. Watco also helped design and build and provides unit train service to a grain storage facility on the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.
“The relationship we’ve built with Bartlett over the years gave them the confidence to trust us with this project,” said Harbour. “We were involved from when it was just an idea on the back a napkin, and after a lot of work, we were able to deliver.”
The SKOL and Watco teams worked to secure federal and state grants to help fund upgrades across the line to handle the traffic for the new plant. Over the past several years, the team upgraded the rail to 286,000-lb. capacity, rebuilt bridges, upgraded crossings, constructed a new 8,000-foot siding, and more.
These upgrades not only made it possible to provide the necessary service to Bartlett, they also improved efficiency for customers across the entire railroad. The benefits extend beyond the SKOL. Local farmers have new markets for their soybeans. Rural communities are seeing new jobs and an economic boost. The updated crossings also help make drivers safer.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the past five years,” said Waun. “It’s pretty cool for a little short line like the SKOL the be recognized on this big of a stage. We’re very thankful for this and all the help we got along the way.”
