Arkansas & Ozarks Railroad - 1954 - Ozarka Spring Water Company, Eureka Springs, AR

I realize I am taking a bit of a risk posting non-Frisco photos on this site but felt there was enough of a connection to go ahead and give it a shot.

The Arkansas and Ozarks (A&O) only connection to the outside world was to the SLSF at Seligman, MO.

While the A&O's life was fairly short lived from April, 1949 until May, 1960, the overall history of the line and its former operators has almost reached fabled status.

I will not attempt to cover the history of the road as I am sure most are aware, but enjoy these shots of a trip made November 13, 1954.

These photos were taken by Harold Henre, now deceased, of Kansas City.

Photograph 1. Coming down the 0.50% hill from Seligman, MP 61.29, through Butler Hollow.



Photograph 2. Rolling out on to the White River bridge, 73.7, at Beaver, AR, MP 73.65.



Photograph 3. Looking back on the train through "The Narrows" and on to the Leatherwood Creek Bridge, 73.2.



Photograph 4. Up the 1.75% hill from "Junction", MP 77.44, and on to the large curved trestle, bridge no. 78.7.



Photograph 5. Up hill 1.75%, towards the tunnel, MP 79.96.



Enjoy!

Jeff Cooney,
Lindsay, Texas

Edit 3/9/2024: Moved photograph captions adjacent to respective image. Added bridge and station mile post (MP) numbers.

Information from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company, Time Table No. 7, Sunday, February 25, 1945. Time Table from The North Arkansas Line, by James R. Fair, Jr.
MKD

 

Photograph 6. Up the 1.75% hill to the tunnel.



Photograph 7. Tunnel, AR, 79.96, as identified in the Employee Time Table (ETT).



Photograph 8. Downhill 1.50% towards Grandview, AR, MP 84.53, with engineer Jack Hammons in frame.



Photograph 9. The Kings River bridge.



Photograph 10. Looking back on train crossing the Kings River bridge.



Edit 3/9/2024: Moved photograph captions adjacent to respective image. Added bridge and station mile post (MP) numbers.

Information from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company, Time Table No. 7, Sunday, February 25, 1945. Time Table from The North Arkansas Line, by James R. Fair, Jr.
MKD

 

Photograph 11. Train crossing Kings River bridge. The curve is 9 degrees.



Photograph 12. Crew at Green Forest, AR, MP 110.56. From left to right are, Ray Mathias, General Manager Jack Halter, engineer Jack Hammons, and Jess Moody.



Photograph 13. General Electric (GE) 70 tonners on north leg of wye at Junction, MP 77.44, either headed towards or coming back from Eureka Springs, AR, MP 79.25, 1.81 miles south.



Photograph 14. Caboose A&O 301, the other was A&O 300.



Photograph 15. The depot at Beaver, AR, MP 73.65.



I apologize if I have upset anyone with posting these on a dedicated Frisco site. But again, I felt there was enough of a tie with the Frisco through freight interchange that they were warranted.

Hope you enjoyed them.

Jeff Cooney,
Lindsay, Texas

Edit 3/9/2024: Moved photograph captions adjacent to respective image. Added bridge and station mile post (MP) numbers.

Information from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company, Time Table No. 7, Sunday, February 25, 1945. Time Table from The North Arkansas Line, by James R. Fair, Jr.
MKD

 

Thanks for sharing the wonderful photographs Jeff.

Doug

 

I am certainly not complaining!

Great shots, and thanks for sharing them.

Bradley A. Scott

 

Many, many Thanks Jeff!

I am collecting rolling stock and equipment to model Seligman in HO.

I am waiting until I start my next job before actually starting the layout.

I may have to move and I do not want to damage it right after building.

I have seen very few color shots of the A&O.

I have seen what was posted on the North Arkansas website (RIP), the Yahoo groups site for M&NA and some pictures of other Salzburg [sp?] lines on the fallen flags web site.

These may have included these diesels after the A&O was shut down.

Craig

 

Thanks for posting the rare pictures.

They certainly make an obscure line a lot more vivid.

Jess Moody, shown in one of the images, was present at the Harrison Railroad Days at the Boone County Railroad and History Museum in Harrison about three years ago.

Tomd6

 

Wow, great shots!

Please let us know if you have any more.

I am a huge M&NA and A&O fan.

Thanks!

 

The pictures are terrific.

Thanks for sharing.

John

 

I agree, excellent and rare shots.

I am currently modeling this line in a Rail Sim called Trainz.

If any of you can direct me to any more A&O or predecessor lines photographs or information please let me know.

I am a member of the Boone county Historical society and receive the Oak Leaves publication. I have most or all of the back issues.

If I can help anyone let me know.

Thank you,

Mike
Eureka Springs, AR

Mike@oldaudio.net

 

Thanks for sharing the photographs Jeff.

They sure brought back a lot of memories as I got a cab ride from Berryville, AR to Seligman, MO in 1956.

The train was so long we never saw the caboose and they had to split it on Seligman hill and make two drags.

It took about seven hours as we had to wait on a flat car of cedar posts to be loaded by hand in Eureka Springs.

We stopped at Beaver to get a coke at the store and made to Seligman after dark.

 

Hi all,

I would like to thank frisco4301 for posting the pictures.

They brought tears to my eyes. I was raised in Seligman and I remember spending the hot summers in Butler Hollow picking up telegraph insulators and selling them to the gift shops in town.

All the years that I lived there, I never saw one picture of the railroad that the "old timers" talked about. My family and I moved away in my high school years and then I joined the military, so never went back.

I am writing a little history of myself for my family and friends. I was digging for history of Seligman, the M&NA and the A&O when I ran across your site and pictures.

Very nice site you have here. I will definitely come more often.

Thanks all!

Don
Germany

 

There is a company called V-Scale Creations that has a MSTS based add-on of the St. Louis and North Arkansas based in 1903, I believe.

There is also a "what if" of the same line set in the late 1980s with A&M Alco's doing the work.

The guy that created and did all the work including the add-on is a big Frisco fan.

And in fact he works for the A&M out of Ft. Smith.

Here is a link to the site if you looking for some information.

http://www.vscalecreations.com/

 

I thought I would add a few more shots to this thread.

While these may not have the bang of the first grouping, they are still rare non-the-less.

Photograph 1. Southbound train with GE 70 tonner A&O 900 and 7 car train just east of Alpena, AR, MP 111.25, September 6, 1951. Photograph taken from U.S.62 Highway.



Photograph 2. Alpena, AR, MP 111.25, depot, a Standard No. 2 design, almost identical to several Frisco depots.



Photograph 3. South switch for the house track at Beaver, AR, MP 73.65, October, 1958.



Photograph 4. Very rare shot of a Eureka Spring, Spring not Springs, Water Company car in Eureka Springs, AR, MP 79.25, June 23, 1953.



Photograph 5. Former M&NA/M&A pile driver, Harrison, AR, MP 126.33, August 31, 1953.



Photographs 1 and 2 taken by Jack Pfeifer.

Photographs 3, 4 and 5 taken by Harold Henre.

Edit 3/9/2024: Moved photograph captions adjacent to respective image. Added bridge and station mile post (MP) numbers.

Information from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company, Time Table No. 7, Sunday, February 25, 1945. Time Table from The North Arkansas Line, by James R. Fair, Jr.
MKD

 

The next group of photographs begin with No. 1, Motor Car John E. Martineau, car no. 726, September 6, 1951, Harrison, AR, MP 126.33.



Photograph 2. Same car, Harrison, AR, MP 126.33, June 23, 1953.



Photograph 3. Shops and turntable, Harrison, AR, MP 126.33, September 6, 1951.



Photograph 4. M&A No. 15, Harrison, AR, 126.33, September 6, 1951



Photograph 5. Locomotives 15 and 14, box car 01039 and tender from 15, Harrison, AR, MP 126.33, 9/6/1951.



Jeff Cooney,
Lindsay, Texas

Edit 3/9/2024: Moved photograph captions adjacent to respective image. Added bridge and station mile post (MP) numbers.

Information from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company, Time Table No. 7, Sunday, February 25, 1945. Time Table from The North Arkansas Line, by James R. Fair, Jr.
MKD

 

Thanks again Jeff,

I appreciate these very much.

44Don22 and anyone else interested,

In case you did not already know, there is a Yahoo Group for North Arkansas Line fans.

Free. Just register.

There are some more pictures there.

Last but not least, thank you for your service to our country.

Craig

 

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all the A&O photographs.

I have been obsessed with this railroad for about the last 15 years, since I bought Fair's book. I prefer the A&O to the lines from which it came. The Seligman connection is of special interest.

My job takes me to Joplin, Neosho, and Cassville every three weeks, and I have spent much time tracing the A&O from Seligman down through Butler Hollow. I thought I was the only one.

Thanks again for the photographs and the recollections.

Frisco will always be number 1 with me, but A&O is a close second.

Scott

 

I enjoy all the photographs of anything Frisco, M&NA or A&O.

I was born and raised in Seligman and grew during the era of the A&O. The massive depot, or so I thought as a kid, that served both railroads was still here. Though the A&O did not have passenger service, the large waiting room still had the old M&NA call boards with train information still written on them.

The waiting room was always locked because passenger service had pretty much died on the Frisco by the mid 1950s in Seligman, MO. The old water tower was still in place just south of the depot platform. The old M&NA turntable was still in place but never used. All the side tracks were still used. My family had a feed store on the west side of the tracks that unloaded cars of feed.

During the A&O time they would bring a train up from Harrison, AR and overnight in Seligman, MO. They had electrical hookups so they could park on the north part of their track and plug in the caboose for the nights stay. Then head back to Harrison the next morning.

These things are all gone now. There was even a livestock pin to load livestock on the railroad.


I enjoy reading the stories that everyone has posted though I have not even gotten close to reading them all.

Keep the pictures coming.

Thanks,

Knial

 

Scott M and anyone else, since your job takes you to Joplin, Neosho and Cassville you may find this interesting.

You can trace the Missouri and North Arkansas (M&NA) road bed from Wayne, south of Exeter, through Ridgely, Wheaton, Fair View, Stark City and on over to Neosho joining the KCS rail yard from valley to the east.

At Wheaton the depot still stands. Some buildings have been built on the road bed, which adds to the challenge, but it is there. There is a flag stop platform and caboose at Monark Springs. I have not been to the Joplin Union Depot, adjacent to the Kansas City Southern (KCS) lately. It is still there I hope.

Can anyone confirm this?

Leaving the former Frisco railroad, now Arkansas and Missouri (A&M) in Wayne, I believe one of the local roads is built on the M&NA railroad roadbed for a distance.

In case you have not done this already, and noting that you prefer the A&O to its predecessors, this is a good route to follow.