Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad Works With Charlotte Pipe to Lay New Tracks

MAIZE, Kan. - Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (KO) worked with Charlotte Pipe and Foundry for its new plastic plumbing and irrigation pipe manufacturing facility.

In Watco’s The Dispatch for September 2025, Charlotte Pipe’s facility was “a rural farm field waiting for development” two years ago. This is part of the company’s plans to expand from the east and west coasts into the central U.S. Now, a 134,000-sq.-ft. building sits on the site. The development cost $80 million, according to Watco.

A key factor of the investment was rail access. As part of the collaboration efforts with KO, it helped to design and build a new siding for the facility. There are turnouts on both the east and west sides of the facility off the KO main line. Watco says these connect to a double-track siding that has close to 3,000 feet of rail and enough space for 28 cars to unload plastic resin “at dozens of pneumatic connections.” As of reporting, Charlotte Pipe receives around 40 cars monthly.

Sales director Casey Harbour said, “We worked with Charlotte Pipe to help them find the right spot. . . They started with a concept and wanted to serve a market. We helped them make that a reality by identifying the right site, with the right rail access, and matching their needs with room to expand.”

Director of Engineering Drew White said, “As with any of our projects, we worked closely with the customer to ensure the design fit their immediate needs and vision for the future. . . We went through at least eight iterations before we settled on a design that work for Charlotte Pipe and the operations team on the KO. It’s always a collaborative effort to balance that what we build works for the customer and our team.”

Sales director Harbour continued, “Everywhere they’ve built, Charlotte Pipe has expanded capacity within a couple years . . . They built the facility with that in mind. Watco wants to support that growth, so the rail infrastructure we built matches that vision, and we’re prepared to provide the rail service they’ll need.”