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The TSU traces its origin back to when Oklahoma became a state
in 1907. This also was the year Sapulpa and Interurban Railway
was incorporated. The line operated as an interurban streetcar
line using trolley cars around Sapulpa, Oklahoma. It also
extended rail lines towards the communities of Glenpool and
Kiefer, Oklahoma. This was at an exciting time in Oklahoma
history when the oil industry was coming of age. The line
provided transportation for the oil field workers and business
people in these growing oilfields and communities.
By 1917 the line under went bankruptcy and reorganization,
being incorporated as the Sapulpa Electric Interurban Railway.
This same year the line was extended north to connect with
the Oklahoma Union Railway out of Tulsa. Some famous people
have ties to the Interurban such as J.S. Cosden and E.F. Sinclair,
both of which had oil refineries and Tom Slick who was an
entrepreneur in the oil and railroad business.
In 1933 the railway once again hit upon tough times and was
in receivership and operated under the name Oklahoma Union
Salvage Company. The company was purchased in 1934 by George
F. Collins who owned and operated a Sapulpa glass plant known
as the Liberty Glass Company. The line has remained in the
Collins family's control since that time forward. It was at
this time the line became a freight railroad operation only
with the glass plant being one of its principal customers.
The streetcar service and the trolleys were to be a thing
of the past with the advent of the automobile becoming affordable
to the general public. The line continued to be powered by
electric overhead wire using freight box motors for motive
power.
 In
1934 the name was changed to the Sapulpa Union Railway Company
and to the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway in 1943. The electric
overhead wires came down in 1960 with the purchase of diesel
electric locomotives. The line continues to operate serving
industry between Sapulpa and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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