I am an old railroad fan originally from mid-northern Illinois, where there are no end of railroads! I moved to the Ozarks 9 years ago, where I reside within the sound of the occasional train coming through Washburn, MO. I am not a modeler. I prefer 1:1 scale operations. I also enjoy railroad history. I came upon this site when I did a web search to find out when the line from Wayne, MO to Neosho, MO was removed. I see from messages (about 2 years ago) from Brian Waller that this was back in, I think, 1948. When I first moved here, you could still see the abutments of the bridge over MO-76/MO-86 west of Exeter, MO, which were later removed. As I travel to Wheaton and beyond, Fairview, Stark City, Newtonia, and so on, it is very nostalgic to see the old ROW, and to wonder what kinds of freight was hauled no this road, and who might have travelled it. Using Google Earth, I have been able to follow some of the faint remains of the ROW after it leaves the Wheaton area -- pretty obvious on the East side of MO-86, but obliterated on the other side of the road. It is visible for a while when you get to Fairview. But it is not clear how it came into Newtonia, and I completely lose track of any remnants West of there. Anyway, it was that nostalgia and curiosity that brought me here.
Welcome aboard. There's plenty of good historians on the forum and links to keep you busy. You may even get the itch to model something from your area of interest. Anyway, have fun.
The line you describe is none other than the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad. A rather curious affair and you can read all about it in "The North Arkansas Line" by James Fair. You can find used copies through Amazon.com Welcome to the Frisco Forum. Rancho Bob
Thank you all. And a special thanks to Rancho Bob concerning the book. I'll look for it. Sounds like it'll provide fuel for my nostalgizing. Edit: Ordered!! Thanks again.
If you haven't been to Weaton Mo. it's worth a visit, the comunity has restored the old M&NA depot there. Welcome aboard! Craig
Sounds like going through Wheaton on the next trip to Springfield is in order, maybe next week on the way to the Mid-Con convention in St. Louis. I decided to look at the Google images--not sure just which structure is the old station. But when I zoomed out and looked around I found the answer to how the A&M switch the new mill south of Purdy. Google even shows a string of hoppers ready to be picked up by the northbound Monett turn. Great to have the up to date photo stuff, but we sure need better access to the older stuff. "Wood" if you are down Bentonville way, maybe we could share some railfanning.
Woods....enjoy the book. First of all you'll find that the M&NA used trackage rights over the KCS between Neosho & Joplin. Secondly, you'll see where they did the same thing. At Seligman, where the line left the Frisco track, seems to me I remember a large cut. R Bob
The M&NA/Frisco junction at Seligman is a wee bit harder to tell with precision. They have dozed part of the cut at the junction flat. Also, Monark Springs is worth a quick stop too. It was a flag stop and there is a platform and caboose there along the R.O.W.
Also if your in Arkansas at St. Joe theyt have just restored their M&NA depot. I remember a couple years back it look terrible, now it is a real showpeice restoration.
I was just through Monark Springs the other day on a jaunt. When I get the book, I'll especially be interested in seeing where the tracks went after a few miles West of Fairview heading toward Neosho; 'cause as I mentioned, that's where I lose any hint of the tracks in Google Earth. But after 64 years .... !
