Elizabeth and I woke up and after we did our Internet duties, we left James and Rebekah's house after Elizabeth said goodbye to their three cats who had received lots of attention from us the past two days, and drove into Stilwell for a McDonald's breakfast. We then took an odd route to get to Eureka Springs and went to the station a completely diferent way than I had gone before but we got there.
The Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway HistoryThe Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway was started by the late Robert Dortch, Jr., and his wife Mary Jane in 1981. Robert Dortch, Sr., had built the Scott and Bearskin Lake Railroad as part of the Plantation Agriculture Museum near Scott, Arkansas, in the 1960s. After his death, the family closed the railroad and began moving the equipment to Eureka Springs (Eureka, for locals). Eventually, a 2.5 mile railroad was built, requiring several trestles over Leatherwood Creek. The line features the former Fort Smith Frisco turntable at the south end at Eureka, and a wye at the north end at Junction. The railroad leases the former Missouri & North Arkansas stone depot (built 1913) at Eureka, and added a water tower and a small yard. They also built a commissary adjacent to the old ice house and electric plant building to the south to prepare meals for the luncheon and dinner trains. The railroad was used in the 1982 television mini-series The Blue and the Gray.
The ES&NA was built on the grade of the original Eureka Springs Railway, last operated by the Arkansas & Ozarks. The Eureka Springs Railway was built from Seligman, Missouri, to Eureka Springs by 1883. Due to the rugged nature of the surrounding Ozark Mountains, getting to Eureka Springs was almost impossible. With the railroad, the town boomed. To get people from the railroad station to the various springs and resorts, Eureka Springs was served by an electric trolley line. The Eureka Springs Electric Light and Street Railway Company was chartered on May 1, 1891. It started as a mule drawn streetcar service, and then electrified about 1898. The streetcar service was abandoned in 1923.
In 1899, the Eureka Springs Railway was reorganized as the St. Louis & North Arkansas Railroad. In 1906, the railroad became the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad to build further east to Helena, Arkansas. The company was again reorganized in 1922 and it became the Missouri & North Arkansas Railway Company. Following another financial crisis, the company became the Missouri & Arkansas Railway. Following another labor strike and bankruptcy, the railroad closed down and most of it was abandoned. The track between Harrison and Seligman became the Arkansas & Ozarks in 1949 - which closed in 1961.
Passengers board at the depot of the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway, originally built in 1912-13 to replace a wooden depot built in the 1880s. The passenger train uses several former Rock Island P-70 coaches. There have actually been as many as seven of these cars on the property at any one time. Two cars were used for the regular passenger service - maroon 2560 and green 2585. Two more are used for the dinner train, currently numbered 1 and 2. Two more are used as buildings - 2515 is used as a snack bar while 2523 has been used as an office. Another coach, 2593, was also once here.
The train is pulled by an EMD SW1 4742 built in 1942 as Chicago & Eastern Illinois 98. It later went to the Missouri Pacific, and then to Granite Mountain Quarries of Sweet Home, Arkansas, before coming to the ES&NA. Two steam locomotives can be found on site: 226, a 2-8-2 built in 1927 by Baldwin for the Dierks Lumber & Coal Company and an un-numbered German 0-4-0T mounted on a pedestal as advertising.
Also on the property is former Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad 5, a 1951 Chevrolet track inspector's car. Rides are sometimes possible in this car.
The following milepost information is from Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company Time Table No. 7, dated Sunday, February 25, 1945. The timetable showed this line to be 2.3 miles long.
Our Visit
Missouri and North Arkansas Eureka Springs station built in 1912. The M&NA was reorganized as the Missouri & Arkansas Railway Company in 1935 and in 1949 a portion of the M&A, including the branch into Eureka Springs was acquired by the Arkansas & Ozarks. The A&O was abandoned in 1961 after heavy rains damaged a bridge and several miles of track; but since 1978 the depot has been used by Eureka Springs & North Arkansas tourist railroad.
We went into the depot and received our tickets then bought some souvenirs before going outside to wait to board the train.
Our train set for our trip this morning.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 25 ton switcher 700 "Oscar" built by General Electric in 1950. It was originally powered by a 150 hp Cummins engine and was upgraded to a 260 hp engine in 2006. It served at the Holcim Cement Company, New Orleans, Louisana and was delivered to the railway on December 28, 2018.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific commuter coach 2585 built by Standard Steel in 1925, now Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 2585.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific commuter coach 2515 built by Standard Steel in 1923 which used to be the concession stand but refreshments and snacks are now sold in the station.
St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad turntable built in 1908. I walked back to the station and after giving an introduction, the conductor, Greg, asked me say to "All Aboard" then gave me a smashed penny as a thank you. Everyone then boarded and Elizabeth and I sat at the back of the coach.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas water tower.
Track Inspection Car, a converted 1951 Chevrolet wagon, is among the exhibits at the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway.
Missouri Pacific 40 foot box car 41397.
Missouri Pacific 40 foot box car number unknown.
Missouri Pacific 40 foot box car number unknown.
Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown caboose 60.
An old animal car in which they used to bring animals from the zoo.
St. Louis Southwestern caboose 214 built by the railroad.
Unknown tank car. We were then out of the yard area and on our way.
Leatherback Creek.
The trestle at Junction as seen from the train.
Looking down the tracks at Junction. The county has built roads over where the track used to be both here and beyond the trestle, so unfortunately, this railroad cannot extend their trackage beyond this point.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas "Oscar".
The trestle at Junction. We detrained here and the conductor had something special for us all.
Elizabeth and I put coins on the tracks to let the train flatten them, as did many others. After the train reversed over them, all coins were retrieved and we reboarded for the return trip to Eureka Springs.
Our tickets for the trip.
View of the tracks behind our train.
Maintenance-of-way crane.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas office car 2523 built by Standard Steel as Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 2523 in 1923.
Dierks Lumber & Coal Company 2-8-2 226 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1926. In 1956 it was moved to Mountain Pine, Arkansas and later donated to the City of Benton, Arkansas.
Eureka Springs and North Arkansas caboose 12153 built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1977 as Burlington Northern 12153.
Tender of Isthmian Canal Commission 2-6-0 203 built by Alco Cooke in 1902. In 1922 it was sold to W.T. Carter & Brother 201 at Camden, Texas. In 1929 it was transfered to the Moscow, Camden & St. Augustine Railroad 201 and later donated to Grigsby Foundation at Malvern, Arkansas. It was then leased to Scott & Bearskin Lake Railway 201 and in 1981 moved to Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 201. Sold to the city of Anna, Texas and currently being cosmetically restored prior to being located at the Anna Area Historical Preservation Society.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas water tower.
Another unknown box car.
Georgia Northern coach 95035 built as Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific combine 6009.
Mine engines.
St. Louis Southwestern caboose 214 built by the railroad.
Unknown flat car.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas coach 2560 built by Standard Steel in 1927, formerly Chicago Rock Island and Pacific 2560.
United Tank Car 3428 built by the company.
Unknown hopper car.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas open air car 41.
Unknown flat car and tank car.
Museum views.
Eureka Springs and North Arkansas speeder, still operational and assists in the yard.
Farm steam tractor.
Buescher & Sohn 0-4-0T 35 built by Orenstein & Koppel in 1933. It was later sold to L&M Manufacturing Company in Peru, Indiana and sold to Marco Polo Park in Bunnell, Florida. At some point, it came to Eureka Springs.
Eureka Springs and North Arkansas SW1 4742, originally built by Electro-Motive Division in 1942 as Chicago & Eastern Illinois 98.
The Eurekan Supply Car, history unknown.
Chicago and Rock Island Pacific coach built by Standard Steel in 1927 now Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 2.
Chicago and Rock Island Pacific coach built by Standard Steel in 1927 now Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 1.
The Eureka Commissary for their lunch and dinner trains.
Museum view.
Trainorders signal. We then unexpectedly saw Jay McFarland and his wife Cassie, fellow National Railway Historical Society members, who will be attending the Autumn Conference in Springdale and chatted with them until the lunch train blew its whistle and set up for pictures of the train entering the station boarding area.
Missouri and North Arkansas Eureka Springs station.
Eureka Springs and North Arkansas SW1 4742.
The Eurekan Supply Car.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 2.
Eureka Springs & North Arkansas 1. This completes our coverage of the Eureka Springs and North Arkansas.
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