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The dream of returning passenger train travel to the Tulsa area will become a reality next year, at least temporarily.

The company that purchased the 97.5-mile Sooner Subdivision rail line linking Sapulpa and Midwest City plans a six-month trial to see if train travel is popular enough to create a permanent route.

Stillwater Central Railroad LLC, a unit of Pittsburg, Kansas-based Watco Companies LLC, purchased the line from the state of Oklahoma for $75 million. It plans to announce a schedule for passenger service soon.

Tulsa’s railroad history began in 1882, when the Indian Territory town became the westernmost destination on the Frisco railway line.

In 1902, Tulsa pioneers raised $12,000 in a town of 1,400 people and obtained 20 miles of right-of-way in order to get the Katy Railroad to run a branch through their city.

Santa Fe and Midland Valley later came to town.