# Arkansas Railroad Operations



## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

I have been looking for information about old Arkansas railroads and I ran across this:

http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/e...tryID=1185

Adams, Walter M. _The White River Railway: A History of the White River Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, 1901–1951_. North Little Rock, AR: Walter Adams, 1991. 


Arkansas and Missouri Railroad. http://www.arkansasmissouri-rr.com/ (accessed February 6, 2007).


Arkansas Railroad Museum. Pine Bluff, Arkansas. http://www.geocities.com/TheTrop...9.html (accessed March 26, 2007).


_Arkansas__ Railroader_. Little Rock: Arkansas Railroad Club (1969–).


Baker, William D. “Historic Railroad Depots of Arkansas, 1840–1970.” Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. http://www.arkansaspreservation....ts.pdf (accessed February 6, 2007).


Campbell, Donald Kennedy, II. “A Study of Some Factors Contributing to the Petition for Abandonment by the Missouri and Arkansas Railroad in September, 1946.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 8 (Winter 1949): 267–326.


Dew, Lee A., and Louis Koeppe. “Narrow-Gauge Railroads in Arkansas.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 31 (Autumn 1972): 276–293. 


Evanson, Robert. “The Fayetteville & Little Rock Railroad.” _Flashback_ 46 (May 1996): 17–24.
Fair Jr., James R. _The North Arkansas Line: The Story of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad_. Berkley, CA: Howell-North Books, 1969. 


Grant, Roger H. “The Ozark Short Line Railroad: A Failed Dream.” _Missouri__ Historical Review_ 100 (July 2006): 197–211.
Ft. Smith/Van Buren Historic Railroad Pages. http://www.cbu.edu/%7Emcondren/F...es.htm (accessed March 23, 2007). 


Handley, Lawrence R. “Settlement across Northern Arkansas as Influenced by the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 33 (Winter 1974): 273–292.


Harlow, Lester C. “A Short History of Railroads in Benton County, Arkansas.” _Benton__ County Pioneer_ 16 (October 1967): 76–81.


Huff, Leo E. “The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad during the Civil War.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 23 (Autumn 1964): 260–270.


Hull, Clifton E. _Railroad Stations and Trains through Arkansas and the Southwest_. Hart, MO: Whiteriver Productions, Inc., 1997.


———._ Shortline Railroads of Arkansas_. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.


———. _The Dardanelle & Russellville Railroad_. Conway: University of Central Arkansas Press, 1995.


“KCS Railroad Special Edition.” _Mountain Signal_, June 2000.
Kennan, Clara B. “A Railroad Empire Rose and Fell in Benton County.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 13 (Summer 1954): 154–159. 


Pollard, Bill. “Railroad Ransom: History of the Searcy Branch of the Rock Island Line Railroad.” _White County Heritage_ 45 (2007): 36–78.
Porter, Rusty. “Railroads of Phillips County.” _Phillips County Historical Quarterly_ 26 (June and September 1988): 1–26. 


Scott, Eloise. “Railroads and Strawberries.” _White County Heritage_ 19 (1981): 22–37.

Thompson, George H. “Asa P. Robinson and the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 39 (Spring 1980): 3–20. 


Winn, Robert G. _Railroads of Northwest Arkansas_. Fayetteville, AR: Washington County Historical Society, 1986.


Winters, Charles E. “The Fort Smith & Western Railway.” _Journal of the Fort Smith Historical Society_ 16 (April 1992): 3–21.
Woods, Stephen E. “The Development of Arkansas Railroads, Part I.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 7 (Summer 1948): 103–140. 


———. “The Development of Arkansas Railroads, Part II.” _Arkansas__ Historical Quarterly_ 7 (Autumn 1948): 155–193.
*Michael Hodge
North Little Rock, Arkansas*



I would guess that similar information is available for other states and if anyone knows where that information can be found it may be helpful to those who live in those states to post a similar topic.

Jerry


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Jerry, this geared loco ran in Earle Ark. Saw it and saved it for you... note the main rod goes to a gear behind the drivers.
The side rods carry the power to the front drivers.

Happy Railroading,

John


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 07 Dec 2009 10:34 AM 


Jerry, this geared loco ran in Earle Ark. Saw it and saved it for you... note the main rod goes to a gear behind the drivers.
The side rods carry the power to the front drivers.

Happy Railroading,

John


Hi John,

That photo and info is great. Thanks for posting it.

Jerry


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

You're welcome. 
Besides the side tanks, there is also a tank under the boiler (rectangular) on the frame. 
Note that some of the valve gear is infront of the cylinders! 

John


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 07 Dec 2009 10:34 AM 









Jerry, this geared loco ran in Earle Ark. Saw it and saved it for you... note the main rod goes to a gear behind the drivers.
The side rods carry the power to the front drivers.

Happy Railroading,

John
John, know the builder of this beast, I cannot peg it by looking. Baldwin per chance?

Jerry, the comprehensive US Narrow Gauge book published by Stanford has a short chapter on the NG RRs of AR.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Narr...0804723699


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Spule 4 on 07 Dec 2009 05:08 PM 
Jerry, the comprehensive US Narrow Gauge book published by Stanford has a short chapter on the NG RRs of AR. 
http://www.amazon.com/American-Narr...0804723699





Hi Garrett,

I am sure that it is a very good book but I very seldom buy any books. About the only railroad books I own are about specific railroads or about a specific area such as Arkansas.

Actually the books I am currently reading were either bought by my wife or are from the very limited library collection.

I appreciate the link.

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Jerry McColgan on 08 Dec 2009 12:10 PM 
Posted By Spule 4 on 07 Dec 2009 05:08 PM 
Jerry, the comprehensive US Narrow Gauge book published by Stanford has a short chapter on the NG RRs of AR. 
http://www.amazon.com/American-Narr...0804723699





Hi Garrett,

I am sure that it is a very good book but I very seldom buy any books. About the only railroad books I own are about specific railroads or about a specific area such as Arkansas.

Actually the books I am currently reading were either bought by my wife or are from the very limited library collection.

I appreciate the link.

Thanks,

Jerry
Hi Jerry-

I wish I had that problem!

My shelves look like a book store on both sides of the atlantic. The "coffee table" books I can do wthout in most cases, the few I have are either from childhood or to replace those from childhood that are MIA or were loaned. I used to buy a lot of railroad books on the road for work, less trips now, so less books. New, old, in print, out of print, $1 at a junk store to hundreds of dollars because I had to have it, English, German.... And these are not counting dad's collection either.

The rest are specific railroad, builders like Porter or Glover, several US road 1950s-70s diesel fleet books, specific subject, Austrian steam loco class, etc. Very few "multi" road or multi/large geographic books for that reason. The NA Narrow Gauge book I bought because of the publisher's excellent book on California Narrow Gauge. Written more like a technical or college text book than the typical RR book.

It is amazing to see how far things have come....compare the CA book to the orginal Maine Two Footers to see what I mean. Would I give up either one? No, but shows how far we have come in writing styles.

Honestly, I could give up modelling and just read.


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Spule 4 on 08 Dec 2009 05:06 PM 
Hi Jerry-

I wish I had that problem!

My shelves look like a book store on both sides of the atlantic. The "coffee table" books I can do without in most cases, the few I have are either from childhood or to replace those from childhood that are MIA or were loaned. I used to buy a lot of railroad books on the road for work, less trips now, so less books. New, old, in print, out of print, $1 at a junk store to hundreds of dollars because I had to have it, English, German.... And these are not counting dad's collection either.

The rest are specific railroad, builders like Porter or Glover, several US road 1950s-70s diesel fleet books, specific subject, Austrian steam loco class, etc. Very few "multi" road or multi/large geographic books for that reason. The NA Narrow Gauge book I bought because of the publisher's excellent book on California Narrow Gauge. Written more like a technical or college text book than the typical RR book.

It is amazing to see how far things have come....compare the CA book to the original Maine Two Footers to see what I mean. Would I give up either one? No, but shows how far we have come in writing styles.

Honestly, I could give up modeling and just read.



Hi Garrett,

Our home is overflowing with books - my wife's books. Her favorite pastime is reading. 

I too enjoy reading but I have always found reading tiresome (not as in boring but as in tiring). I can only read for limited periods of time before my eyes and or or my body get tired. Perhaps it is my astigmatism or sleep apnea.

Unlike many if not most in this hobby, while I had model trains as a child and to a limited extent in later years I never had an interest in or knowledge about real railroading until I approached retirement. Model trains were just an occasional hobby.

When I got near retirement I realized I needed a hobby that was relatively inexpensive to participate in and that did not require extensive external expenses (such as traveling). Garden railroading was perfect. While the "buy in" was expensive both in money and effort the operational expenses are negligible and if not retaining full value the depreciation on model trains is far better than the cost of cars, golf, flying, hunting, photography and most other hobbies.

By knowing nothing about real railroading it opened an entirely new way of enjoying retirement because everything about it has been a new learning experience. Even the people in the hobby (model and real railroading) have become new friends.

It is hard for me to imagine a more suitable hobby for retirement. 

The money I save by not buying books (which is considerable) can go into new rolling stock and unlike a book which I seldom ever read twice the same rolling stock can be run over and over.

Its all a matter of perspective. I love reading about railroading and spend at least as much time at it as I do running trains but as an expense it has been negligible. We have now combined train shows with looking for inexpensive books about railroading history. The exceptions are MoPac (to go with the caboose) and other railroads that do or have run in Arkansas.

Regards,

Jerry


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

As we continue with our effort to trace the old roadbed from the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad we resumed our trek starting at Leslie, Arkansas and went up to Harrison. On the way back we returned to Leslie to see if any stores were open and we discovered a new book about the M&NA at a Leslie flea market. 

The book is "You Can't Get There From Here" and was written by Michael Lagan, PhD. of Leslie and was published in 2007. It appears to be from a small publisher as I could not find Denova Publications on the Internet and the book is 8 1/s" x 11" with black & white photos.

I think it is a pretty good book but so far I have not been able to pry it from my wife's hands (she paid for it).

Jerry


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Spule,
This was a Davenport rod/geared loco, built 08/'20.

Hope that helps.

John


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

We are back home from the Northwest Arkansas train show in Bentonville. There was not much at the show in the way of G Scale although there were several very nice G Scale layouts running at the show,

The show was worth the trip and overnight stay in that we ended up with several nice things. I bought two books I was looking for "Railroads of Northwest Arkansas" and "The North Arkansas Line" (about the Missouri and North Arkansas) plus I found and bought 50+ copies of "Oak Leaves" newsletter/magazine about the M&NA.

We came home via Eureka Springs where we stopped by the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway which was closed but everything was accessible and we had the opportunity to see just how far this very nice tourist railroad has fallen. The steam locomotives (Moguls and Consolidation) were there and are now in such a state it is unlikely they will ever be fired again.

Last night I looked for and found some photos from 1995 showing the railroad when we rode it under steam power - by one of the Moguls. 


It is very sad to see another tourist railroad now without steam power.

Jerry


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Man sorry to hear about the RR in Eureka Springs RR. I had rode this RR back in about 1992 of course the ride was only abut 5 miles long. They had the only wood burning loco in operation in the US, so what happened? The Engineer at the time was a retire C&NW employee and knew my dad that was interesting and we talked for hrs. Is the RR no longer in operation? Later RJD


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 01 Mar 2010 04:14 PM 
Man sorry to hear about the RR in Eureka Springs RR. I had rode this RR back in about 1992 of course the ride was only abut 5 miles long. They had the only wood burning loco in operation in the US, so what happened? The Engineer at the time was a retire C&NW employee and knew my dad that was interesting and we talked for hrs. Is the RR no longer in operation? Later RJD 
Hi RJD,

Yes, they are scheduled to open in April but with only diesel power.

http://www.esnarailway.com/

They were part of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway - actually they were there first and the railway expanded from there backing into Eureka Springs. I've been doing a lot of reading and walking around this railway and if there ever was a hard luck railroad it was this one.

Apparently the owner of the railroad was never able to get permission from landowners to expand further along the old right of way. There is a tunnel and a trestle not far from Eureka Springs which would have been fantastic if it could have been reopened.

Jerry


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry I was under the impression that they had gotten permission to open the tunnel part again and extend there run time. They had a dinner train at one time also. I guess they had about a 5 mile run. What happened to the steam locos? Later RJD


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 03 Mar 2010 08:31 AM 
Jerry I was under the impression that they had gotten permission to open the tunnel part again and extend there run time. They had a dinner train at one time also. I guess they had about a 5 mile run. What happened to the steam locos? Later RJD 
My understanding from local members of HRHS and from local residents is that the tunnel has collapsed and both the tunnel and trestle are on private property with no public access allowed. Perhaps an email to the railroad may get a better response.

There is a mixture of locos at Eureka Springs including two Moguls (1 wood and 1 coal converted to oil) that are more or less complete and a Consolidation that is missing the cab and MANY parts. My facts about them are not assured to be accurate. My wife took some photos but it was too depressing for me to take any. I prefer my old ones when the steam was alive.


There is also a rumor of someone who wants/hopes to resurrect the ES&NA but the people I talked with were exceedingly pessimistic about it. 
On another matter we visited the Reader last summer and were given a fantastic tour. Much of their equipment is operable and used by Hollywood but there is not currently a local tourist railroad there. Apparently there is some possibility of something happening.
Some of my information about the Reader may be confused with information about the Dardanelle and Russsellville Railroad http://www.uprr.com/customers/shortline/lines/dr.shtml. I understand there may (or may not) be some mixed ownership of locomotives with the owner(s) of the Reader Railroad (Reader, Arkansas) http://www.readerrailroad.com/.


There does not seem to be any prospect of steam running in Arkansas (other than the Reader for Hollywood) anytime in the near future. Even Cotton Belt Northern 819 does not seem to be expected to run anytime soon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Southwestern_819#Return_to_the_Cotton_Belt_Shops 

Jerry


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds like the boilers did not pass inspection if they are both out of service. When I first visited this RR the wood burner was in operation and the only know one to esist in the US that was still running. Shame it's out of service along with the other steam loco. Do they have a web site? Later RJD


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 03 Mar 2010 03:19 PM 
Sounds like the boilers did not pass inspection if they are both out of service. When I first visited this RR the wood burner was in operation and the only know one to esist in the US that was still running. Shame it's out of service along with the other steam loco. Do they have a web site? Later RJD 
Yes. Their web site is http://www.esnarailway.com/

While at the NWA train show I also picked up copies of almost the entire printing of the "Oak Leaves" (Historical Journal of the Missouri & Arkansas Railroad) from 1982 - 2003 (when it was combined with the Boone County Historian and ceased to be a stand alone publication.


Unfortunately the set is missing the Spring 1985 and the three 1995 issues. 


The issues should make for interesting reading over the next several months.

Jerry


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the info Jerry. Yes you should have some good reading. Later RJD


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Last month Marilyn and I went to see the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railroad. I had forgotten that she took pictures and I just ran across them.























Rather than post all of them and take up a lot of time for everyone to load them, they can be seen here if anyone is interested:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/jerrymccolgan/ESNA/

Jerry


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

*Old Arkansas Railroading topic revisited*

I noticed MLS had a reference to this as I posted to a current topic.

Sometimes old topics like this make for interesting reading. I wish I could say Arkansas tourist railroads were improving but I've heard nothing new about them.

Jerry


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