In 1940, the connection between the Delta Valley & Southern and the Frisco south of Wilson, Arkansas was renamed from Evadale Junction to Delpro. Was this part of some overall Frisco program to simplify the names of sidings and connecting points, and if so, how was the Delpro name selected? Was there some change in the trackage that resulted in the name change, or simply a renaming of the existing connection point? Bill Pollard
On Jan 12, 1933, receivers of the Frisco petitioned the ICC to abandon its Evadale Branch, 18.1 miles, Evadale Jct to Deckerville. The ICC granted permission on March 27, 1934 ICC authorized sale of the Branch to the Delta Valley & Southern. Payment was 1.095134mm tons of rail and castings (OTM?) worth $9,768.00. The document used “tons” for the units of measure, but that seems unlikely; 1.1 mm pounds sounds more reasonable. The Frisco standard plan book notes that one track-mile of 90lbs rail weighs 141.58 tons. It’s likely that the Evadale Branch didn’t have anything heavier that 56lbs rail. A track-mile of 56 lbs rail weighs about 88 tons. The DV&S proposed the sale of $25,000 in capital stock to finance the rehabilitation, acquisition and operation of the line. The DV&S was organized on June 27, 1934. On July 5, 1934, the road filed to the ICC for a certificate to acquire and operate the former Frisco branch. On August 6, 1934, the ICC granted the certificate. During its first year of operation, performance exceeded expectations as four industries located on the DV&S, i.e., the Wilson Cotton Compress, the Delta Cotton Oil Mill, the Alfalfa Dehydrating Mill, and a cannery. The new road interchanged 4000 carloads during its first year. Citing unsafe track, and lacking funds for rehabilitation, during December 1944, the DV&S petitioned the ICC to abandon its track between Denwood and Deckerville. The ICC authorized the abandonment on April 9, 1945. During January 13, 1947, the DV&S returned to the ICC to petition for the abandonment of the 11 miles of track between Denwood and a point just west of Delpo. During May 1948, the Delpro Refining Co. began construction next to the Delpro Products Company’s cotton oil of a refinery to produce 4500 lbs of margarine per hour and 8500 pounds of shortening per hour. I can't find anything that directly fixes the construction of the Delpro Products plant, so I can only surmise that the extant Delpro Products plant was placed circa 1940. I think there is a single reason for the name change. i.e., the placement of the Delpo industries. As I look at the topo sheets and the lidar, I didn’t see any bridges on the abbreviated DV&S, so perhaps the 3700-class engine didn’t have any problems.
Delta Processing and Delpro were essentially the same company, which might explain the use of that term for the junction point some years before the large Delpro plant was constructed.
