I was on e-bay the other day and there was a photo of Fayetteville Junction and that got me to wondering where it was and when it stopped being a junction. Looking in my 1941 Official Guide there is a line to Okmulgee from Fayetteville Junction and it says the Junction was 1 mile south of Fayetteville. Was the junction south of 6th street? It is really hard to tell from the e-bay photo as it was taken in the early 20th century and there is nothing I recognize in the picture and there are a lot more trees now. When was this line pulled out and did it follow what is modern US-62? In my 1954 Official Guide the line from Fayetteville west is gone and the only remnant is a short branch going from Okmulgee to Ft Gibson. I would have loved to have rode on the mixed train. It would have made for a great day, there and back. Thanks, Steve
Discussions for a standard-gauge railroad from Fayetteville, AR west to Indian Territory dated to the late 1880s. The North Arkansas & Western Railway Company of 1899 planned to build a line from Fayetteville to Prairie Grove, a distance of 30 miles. This railroad changed its name to the Ozark & Cherokee Central Railway (“O& CC “) in April 1901.Construction followed a month later at Fayetteville, AR. The 143.9- mile line built west through the Illinois River valley in Washington County, an agricultural area, and then to Tahlequah , Indian Territory (“IT”) en route to Muskogee, IT and the terminus of Okmulgee ,IT. The line was built in 1901 -2 by the Kennefick Construction Company who sold the line to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad on July 1, 1903 for $2.88 million in bonds. The finished line consisted of three parts: the Ozark & Cherokee Central between Fayetteville, AR and Muskogee, IT; the Muskogee City Bridge Co that owned a bridge spanning the Arkansas River; and a purchased railroad that linked Muskogee, IT to Okmulgee, IT. The entire system was cheaply built with a large number of grades and curves that limited train speeds. The O & CC intersected the Kansas City Southern Railway at Westville, IT (a crossing dispute arose during construction that required the intervention of a U.S. Marshal) and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern near Fort Gibson, IT. Muskogee was served by three lines including the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway, Midland Valley and the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf. The area around Okmulgee later developed into a glass and petroleum products center. The OC & C also served cotton growing areas in Indian Territory The coming of the railroad was a blessing for farmers in the Washington County, AR towns of Farmington, Prairie Grove and Lincoln. The new railroad dramatically reduced shipping costs because it was no longer necessary to haul crops by wagon to the Frisco at Fayetteville. Freight service also led to a major expansion in agricultural crops. Farmington became a grape, strawberry, and grape production area. Lincoln developed into a large apple growing center. One important shipper was the Stark Brothers tree nursery began operations near Farmington in 1902. A brick plant opened near Prairie Grove, AR. The predecessor Ozark & Cherokee Central Railway inaugurated passenger service between Fayetteville and Prairie Grove in the summer of 1901. By January 1903 service extended from Fayetteville to Muskogee, IT, a distance of 104 miles. Some idea of the line’s wandering nature can be seen in that the road distance between the two cities was 16 miles less than the rail route. By 1915 Muskogee subdivision passenger service consisted of two daily roundtrips between Fayetteville, AR and Muskogee, OK, a Westville, OK-Muskogee OK run and frequent Muskogee,OK- Okmulgee,OK trains. Connecting times at Fayetteville were intended to facilitate transfers to and from Frisco long distance trains. Service declined to a single Fayetteville-Muskogee roundtrip in July 1928. The service cut was a delayed response as the Frisco system suffered large passenger traffic declines each year since 1921. In the early 1930s a gas-electric car and trailer replaced the expensive steam locomotive and passenger coach operation. Scheduled passenger service ended on May 12, 1940. One casualty of passenger service was the Railway Post Office route that handled mail for the 34 communities between Fayetteville, AR and Okmulgee, OK since 1903. The Muskogee subdivision had a daily freight each way for much of its existence. Extra freights were added in the agricultural season to handle perishables such as strawberries and apples. The 60-pounds per yard track and difficult terrain limited train sizes. By January 1934 the Depression reduced freight business so markedly that a thrice weekly run between Fayetteville, AR and Muskogee, OK. was adequate. The decline in freight and passenger traffic caused the Muskogee subdivision to operate at a loss from at least 1936. The Frisco system, in receivership since 1932, lacked the resources to maintain a loss-making subdivision such as the Muskogee. In January 1942, the Frisco applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon 91.1 miles of the Muskogee subdivision from the Fayetteville area to Fort Gibson, OK. A Grand River flood control program would require the Frisco to relocate 8.25 miles of track at an estimated cost of $500,000. The Interstate Commerce Commission was a slow-moving decision maker. It approved the abandonment on July 28, 1942.However the War Production Board, the entity for rationing materials, had learned of the proposed abandonment. On July 9, 1942 Frisco crews began to remove track at the order of the War Production Board. By the time the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the abandonment the 9,609 tons of rail were likely seeing new life as war products. A short section of the Muskogee subdivision was in use in the Mc Nair section of Fayetteville, AR until the recent closure of Love Box Company. Trains of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad daily cross over a concrete overpass of the OC & C south of Sixth Street in Fayetteville, AR. Scattered in western Washington County and Cherokee County, OK are concrete culverts, each embossed with the date “1914”, that still stand guard for a train that will never come..
Tom, Thank you for your very detailed reply. Usually when I drive and I know that there is an abandoned line in the area I look for signs of what once was and now that I know this is in the area I have some place new to look. Steve
Tom, was the junction further south called "Fayette?" There are still remnants of the line going east to St. Paul visible. I think that one of the older structures there was recently demolished.
I asked my father in law who has lived in Fayetteville his whole like about the line and while he is too you to remember it, the line was torn out when he was 4, he does hunt in the area and has found spikes and tie plates in several places along the line from St Paul to Farmington so even 67 years later there are quite a few tangible remains of the line. I think this is pretty cool. Does any one know if there are any photos of the line? Steve
Fayette Junction was the point where the St Paul Branch line began. The local NRHS Chapter recently installed a Fayette Junction sign for the benefit of passengers on the Arkansas & Missouri RR excursion trains. Fayette Junction still contains a wye (probably not usable) and is the site of two rail customers. The remnants of a 1918 USRA built 150 ton coaling tower are still visible. Fayette Junction also had a water tank and depot. It was the site of a yard and facilities for engine repair and included a cinder pit and a scale. In the mid and late 1940s it was home to three engines including a small diesel. By April 1951 Fayetteville Junction was an all diesel point as it serviced Yard Engines 1, 3, and 7. The 1955 Frisco Investors Special handout does not show Fayetteville Junction as a servicing point. It was than a one shift switch yard with a daily capacity of 128 cars. Tomd6
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale has a good collection of St. Paul Branch photos plus a few of the Ozark & Cherokee Central that date to 1901-2. Photos of the Muskogee subdivision in Arkansas are hard to find but Shiloh Museum has pictures of the depots. You can contact the Marie Demourakas, Photo Librarian at 750-8165 (M-F, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ) to explore the holdings.Like the Rogers Historical Museum, the Shiloh Museum now charges for photos. I have been told that a wood building used on the Ozark & Cherokee Central was moved to Fayetteville. It is supposedly in the area near American Restaurant Supply in south Fayetteville on the west side of US 71. I haven't been able to find it. It might well exist or could be some type of railfan fantasy. Tomd6
Is the new Fayette Junction Master Plan that the City of Fayetteville has include this area, as in it will destroy any remaining traces? Steve
