Amidst the eight class I railroads in the US, there are hundreds of shortline railroads across the country, making up 30% of trackage according to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA). One such short line or regional railroad is the famous Arkansas & Missouri Railroad that travels from Ft. Smith in western Arkansas northward through the Boston and Ozark Mountains to Monett, Missouri, a total distance of around 140 miles with their headquarters at Springdale, Arkansas. The A&M interchanges with three Class I railroads at Ft. Smith (KCS), Van Buren (UP) and Monett (BNSF). The A&M also has a branch line connecting Bentonville to Rogers, Arkansas and leases 3.2 miles of track from the UP, locally known as “The Bottoms” at Van Buren and provides haulage services for the UP between Van Buren and the Pioneer Railcorp owned Ft. Smith Railroad at Ft. Smith. The A&M has yards in Ft. Smith, Springdale (also home to A&M’s locomotive shop), and Monett. The A&M roster both classic and modern diesel locomotives. The A&M rostered solely ALCo (American Locomotive Company) and MLW (Montreal Locomotive Works, Canadian subsidiary of ALCo) locomotives such as C-420s, C-424s, T-6s, M-420s, an RS-32, an HR-412, and an RS-1. In 2013, the A&M purchased three EMD SD70ACes from EMD. These three are the former EMD demonstrator units 1201-1203 and became A&M 70-72. They were later outfitted with LED headlights and ditch lights, replacing the incandescent lights and a non-operational brass bell mounted between the number boards on the cab, giving them a unique look and maintaining the historical look of the A&M. In April 2022, the A&M acquired a fourth SD70ACe from the Kansas City Southern Railroad as A&M 73 (currently still retains it’s KCS “Southern Belle” paint scheme). Today, the A&M still uses it’s ALCos, albeit fewer than what they started out with (mainly C-420s, C-424s and a T-6 still active) and the four SD70ACes. The A&M operates both freight and passenger excursions on the line. Freight mainly consists of grain and feed supplements, paper products, sand, plastic, food products, steel, scrap, lumber, aluminum, and minerals. There are numerous on-line industries on the A&M, all controlled by manual switches, including a grain silo at Butterfield, Missouri where grain cars can be loaded on a loop of track. The A&M freight and switching services are powered by both the ALCos and EMDs. The passenger excursions are solely powered by ALCo motive power. The passenger equipment is of most unique. It includes A&M coach 104 “Biloxi Blues”, which is a 1917 built Pullman 72 seat coach that was built for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western’s steam powered suburban services out of Hoboken, New Jersey. The next car is A&M coach 105 “Golden Age”, which is a 1927 built Bethlehem Steel 72 seat coach for the New Jersey Central Railroad. A&M coach 106 “Mountain View” has a similar history to A&M coach 105 “Golden Age”. Next up is A&M parlor car 107 “Explorer”, which was built by Pullman Standard in 1955-1956 as Long Island Railroad 2927 and features an open platform. A&M dome coach 108 “Silver Feather Premium” was built in 1948 by Budd for the famous Western Pacific’s “California Zephyr”. The car now serves as a diner car, having table seating in the dome and vestibule. Lastly, is A&M Diner-Lounge 109 “Spirit of Arkansas”. It was built in August 1950 by Budd as a coffee shop-lounge car for the Southern Pacific’s “Sunset Limited”. The passenger excursions operates seasonally between Springdale, Winslow and Van Buren and operates Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from March to November. Christmas trains for kids also operates in December as the “Holiday Express”. Additional passenger trains operates on Sundays between Springdale and Ft. Smith during the summer. Special passenger trains also operates October and November during fall foliage season. On rare occasions, the passenger excursions will go throughout the line from Van Buren, Arkansas to Monett, Missouri and back. The A&M mainline consists of various terrains such as flat farmlands to mountainous terrains through the Boston and Ozark Mountains. Numerous trestles, some very tall, accompany the line, as well as a tunnel under the town of Winslow, Arkansas. Rivers, bayous and creeks can be found throughout the A&M, such as the Arkansas River that runs between Ft. Smith and Van Buren. The A&M crosses over the river on a large steel bridge. Smaller bodies of water can be found roughly paralleling the line such as Frog Bayou, Clear Creek and the West Fork of the White River. The A&M main also passes under I-49 several times. From what I can gather, most (if not all) of the switches on the A&M at industrial spurs, yards and sidings are all manual thrown. This would be a great addition to TSW 3 with the wide amount of variety, there’s numerous possibilities to haul trains and to explore a shortline railroad treasure in “The Natural State” of Arkansas.
I'd like to see this become a TSW3 reality, not just because I'm a native Missourian, but also because this combination of several short lines would offer lots of opportunities for switching activities and short freight and passenger runs. Please take this idea seriously, DTG!
