[1] A subsidiary of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT), it operated 767 miles (1,234 km) of the former Rock Island's Herington, Kansas, to Fort Worth, Texas, North-South line, as a cooperative venture with local shippers providing 3 million dollars in initial start-up costs.
The original OKT North-South route ran from St. Joe, Missouri, to Topeka, Kansas, south through Herington, Wichita, Enid and El Reno to Fort Worth.
[2] It also originally operated several of the former Rock Island's branch lines including: Herington to Salina; Ponca City to Enid; Chickasha to Anadarko and Lawton; and from Waurika to Walters.
In addition, a small portion of the Rock Island's East-West mainline was operated between El Reno and nearby Oklahoma City.
[3] During the original version of the OKT, a total of 61,891 cars were moved during 1981, with the first train leaving Dallas, the company's headquarters, on June 6, 1980.
[9] NCOK began operating a westward line from El Reno to Geary, Oklahoma, and then northward through Watonga, Okeene and Homestead on March 1, 1983 until it became under AT&L control in 1985.