Arkansas and Missouri Railroad

Our excursion on the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad covered 137 miles round-trip from Springdale, Arkansas, traveling south through downtown Fayetteville, then up and over the magnificent Boston Mountains, past a number of small mountain communities, to Van Buren near Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the Arkansas River Basin.



This is a working railroad, one of the few commercial lines left in the United States that operates both freight and passenger service, meaning it relies on its average of 11 daily freight trains to pay the bills, and the passenger service is a side concern. For that reason, freight trains have the right-of-way (same as with Amtrak) and we therefore had a 45 minute delay in starting time waiting for a freight to pass the station, and a 30 minute layover on a siding in Chester, Arkansas (population 99) -- again to allow an oncoming freight train to pass. The photo above was taken during that wait and we were allowed off the train.

Our car was a Pullman Coach -- 1917 vintage -- which was meticulously refurbished from the wheels up with velvet bench seating and mahogany wood and inlay. It seats 68, but we only had 18 or so aboard.


The first class car was a a 1950 vintage Pullman Parlor Car with tables and lounge seating and a capacity of 38 passengers. For an additional fee, there was also a 1940s Small Orr Caboose with Copola seats with its own conductor (even though there were only 2 passengers in it today.)


Or route roughly paralleled I-540, and we traveled under it 5 times on the trip. We also crossed 3 trestles over 110 feet in height and went through the 1/3 mile-long Winslow Tunnel. Our dozens of creek crossings included 17 crossings of one creek. The photo below shows one of the creeks and the expressway, though we rarely saw the latter. In fact, the track was predominantly shrouded by tree foliage most of the trip and views like this were rare. You can also see the very beginnings of the Fall color change this 3rd day of October in 2008. I can only imagine the beauty in a few more weeks.



Except for the higher points in the mountains, we saw occasional pastures, fields, and livestock. Our conductor informed us that many farmers had harvested 4 crops of hay this year, so the animals should be well fed this winter!




The turn-around point was Van Buren, Arkansas, a quaint little town often used as a movie and tv show setting. We had over 2 hours there to have lunch, browse the stores, and explore the downtown which also had a lovely County building. Oh yeah -- the fudge shop and the ice cream shop are also worth a visit!

After the ride, we had a sumptuous supper at Red Lobster -- unlimited shrimp done 5 different ways!