Ft. Smith / Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse & Turntable

Ft Smith, Brick Roundhouse

Ft Smith, Brick Roundhouse underconstruction, about 1945.
Frisco Photo.

 

Ft. Smith sometime in the 1960

Picture provided by Chaffee Historical Society.

Picture was donated. The person who provided it was not sure where it was located, but judging from the style and background, it looks like Ft. Smith sometime in the 1960.

I posted this one about two years ago but have resized it to fit better.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

Hello Frisco Folks,

Here are some photographs of the Frisco roundhouse and yard in Fort Smith, AR.

Take care,

Rich

Ship it on the Frisco!

 

1924 Sanborn Map of roundhouse and yard at Ft. Smith, AR.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

Fort Smith, AR yard, 1924 Sanborn Map

 

Ft. Smith sometime in the 1960

Yup, that's Ft. Smith.

However, it is in the '70's on account of:

* The turntable has the electric motor installed.

* You're standing on the walkway of a Gyralite equipped loco, likely a GP38AC or GP38-2.

I have lived in the Ft. Smith region for the better part of 40 years.

The Ft. Smith Yard was one of my frequented haunts as a young man.

Hope that helps.

Andre Ming

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

Fort Smith AR roundhouse and yard 2009

View one is from 4th Street and M Street looking at the end of the spur to the turntable.

View two is from 4th Street and N Street looking Southwest at where the back of the roundhouse stood.

View three is looking South from the north part of the old yards.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

I grew up in Ft. Smith.

About when and where was this roundhouse?

It looks like it was near what is now the Clayton Expressway and about 3 blocks north of Garrison Avenue, "C" Street.

When was it torn down?

There was also a roundhouse and turntable in Van Buren near the river. As a kid I remember it.

It was about 2 miles south of old highway 64/71. The one in Van Buren was gone by around 1960.

It was probably a Missouri pacific (MP) facility I guess since Ft. Smith had a Frisco.

That area now is an industrial park.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

Actually, I-540 runs between the roundhouse location and the Van Buren Industrial Park.

Driving in to the south side of the yard is tolerated somewhat due to several businesses, some that may be leasing former MP structures. Part of the wye that led to the turntable is still there in the dirt.

Unfortunately I've not been in there with any of the local guys that would know more about the former layout and when various parts of the old facilities came out.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

Steve,

I assume that you're talking about the Van Buren Missouri pacific roundhouse and not the Frisco one off the Clayton Expressway in Ft. Smith?

I grew up in Ft. Smith and frequently passed by that area but never noticed a roundhouse.

Do you have any pictures of it?

The area had several furniture factories, a cold storage facility and was close to the city dump on the east river bank.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

I was talking about the MP roundhouse.

You can still tell in contemporary aerials how a wye led to it, but looks like part of the property went into highway right of way.


In Fort Smith, the furniture factories are gone from that area. The old cold storage facility is gone but replaced by a more modern one since the tornado in 1995.

That was a bit of unexpected urban renewal that took a few years to recover from.

I think the only pictures I've seen of the Fort Smith roundhouse are on Mike Condren's site or in one of the Frisco books.

 

Fort Smith, AR - Roundhouse, Turntable & Yard

You can still see some of the foundation of the Fort Smith roundhouse.

I have tried to see it from Google Maps before, but I could not see anything.

So a few months ago while working as a extra in a music video filmed in the yard I found the foundation.

Most of it has crumbled away, but you can still see some sections.

It may buried from time to time though as plenty of sand from the Arkansas River makes little dunes in the yard area.

The Arkansas and Missouri (A&M) Railroad hauls it as building material, but plenty leaks out along the way.

 

Ft. Smith sometime in the 1960

My memento from the Ft Smith roundhouse.

 

Ft. Smith sometime in the 1960

I was trying to think of what I was doing there.

I worked several times in Ft. Smith. I am thinking, this was the time, I was setting out material for one of the Gangs. I went there with a Burro Crane. That was quite a ride, coming out of Winslow Tunnel shoving a flat car.

I really didn't know too much about air brakes at the time. Lucky for me, I had the air cut in, still quite a ride into Chester. Seven miles downhill, pretty steep also. But that is another story.

I was hanging around the shop in Ft. Smith and saw the can, it was painted red. I ask one of the guys, what it was and he told me governor oil. So, as usual I shopped for items that had SLSF or Frisco on it. Things like that ended up in my machine.

A Burro or American Crane was good for things like that, among other items snagged up was a one tie switch stand from the North end of Winslow Tunnel, the stand said "Frisco System" on it. They had just taken the stub track out. Also a semaphore and a crossing light with the pole.

I kinda wish, I had kept the switch stand, but it ended up in Kansas with a guy that collected. The only other ones I have seen was in the Ft. Smith museum.

Anyway, I have held onto a few items. Kinda neat places. I kept a can from the power house, in Springfield. Also a switch can from Bundy Junction. You know track guys, have a different view of items they like.

Well, I've told on myself too much today.