Western Railroad Discussion > Arkansas & Missouri's ALCO Collection

Last weekend, I made what's become an annual visit to the Arkansas & Missouri railroad, and thought I'd share some of my findings of this midwestern ALCO haven.

Photo 1: Upon arrival in Springdale, I saw this southbound passenger train boarding, so a quick trip south to catch it was in order.  Arkansas & Missouri C420 #44 leads the 1:30 passenger train south out of Springdale, AR under Don Tyson Parkway.  The #44 started life in 1965 on the SAL before eventually moving to the L&N.

Photo 2: After shooting the passenger train (and lunch), I made a bee line to the shops to see what I could come across.  Here, we've got one of the two operating ex-BRC C424's (#34) and ex-CN M420 #3553/

Photo 3: Outside of the shops, an MLW ZWT (Zero Weight-Transfer) truck is slowly being reclaimed by nature.  On the side of the shops are a pair of the EMD radial trucks from the ACe that's still in there getting repairs from last year's accident.
 
- Jeff Carlson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 19:27 by bnsfsd70.

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Photo 4: Here's Arkansas & Missouri's deadline/parts source in Springdale, AR that they use to keep their fleet of operation ALCO's kicking.  Leading up the line are the IBCX RS11 #352 (pay no attention to those pesky number boards...) and BRC C424 #605.  The 352 started life on the Seaboard Air Line.

Photo 5: Having grown up near Chicago, getting to see the Belt Railway of Chicago C424 #605 is always one of the highlights of a trip to the A&M for me.  This one is sitting in the dead line (along with the 604), but still looks every bit ready to lead a transfer out of Clearing.  

I don't know how long this one will continue to look like this, but I can only imagine how good it would look in Union, IL, reunited with their BRC transfer caboose.

Photo 6: Looking significantly worse than it's sisters, the BRC 604 seems to have been stripped of most all useable parts at this point.  

- Jeff Carlson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 19:36 by bnsfsd70.

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Photo 7: A closeup on the Alco 16-251B prime mover in the remains of Belt Railway of Chicago's C424 #604.  This unit is in the A&M's deadline in Springdale, AR and is looking significantly worse than their other three ex-BRC ALCO's.

Photo 8: A&M C420 #64, sits forlorn north of the shops, devoid of many of its components as well.  The 64 was originally a Lehigh Valley unit, though it's been out of service for a few years now.  I believe that the bell ended up on one of the ACe's though, which is a cool little legacy they passed on.

Photo 9: The Arkansas & Missouri have recently taken delivery of a handful of "new" hoppers, and though I've seen a few of them at Mid-America Car in KC, none of those cars have had the "A&M Grain Express" lettering that AM 2333 does.  While looking around Springdale and the rest of the line to Monett, I didn't see any other cars like this, though I'm sure (?) they exist.

- Jeff Carlson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 19:47 by bnsfsd70.

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Photo 10: A&M #80, a former Southern Pacific TEBU leads up a line of units in the dead line north of the shops.  This had originally been a GE U25B, before moving to Arkansas in 2009.

Photo 11: A&M #12. a 1959 built, ex-N&W T6.  They've also got one of these on the roster that's still active, the A&M #14.

Photo 12: Though it has been in storage for years now, the A&M RS1 #20 is still the classiest unit in the fleet, in my humble opinion.  As is evident, this unit was an October, 1951 product of Schenectady and was built for the dearly departed Rutland Railroad.

- Jeff Carlson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 19:20 by bnsfsd70.

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Photo 13: Though it has been in storage for years now, the A&M RS1 #20 is still the classiest unit in the fleet, in my humble opinion.  As is evident, this unit was an October, 1951 product of Schenectady and was built for the dearly departed Rutland Railroad.

Thanks a lot for looking!  If you haven't been down before, certainly do what you can.  These guys are incredibly cool to see out there, and they'll certainly be gone before we're ready.

- Jeff Carlson

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Looks like a museum . . . the CN M420 and BRC C424 are perfectly preserved! For the time being, at least . . .

Ooh, bad, bad, do they really have that RS-1 sitting outside? I thought they cared about it more than that. It needs to be inside somewhere! And I agree BRC 605 needs to go to Union posthaste! === === = === JLH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 20:54 by highgreengraphics.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Looks like a museum . . . the CN M420 and BRC C424
> are perfectly preserved! For the time being, at
> least . . .

Absolutely!  Even though I passed the Monett Turn somewhere, getting to poke around their shops is worth the trip anyway.

- Jeff

So, Jeff, one of the big SD's is still down. Are they doing the work themselves?
How many Alcos are still in operation?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/15 10:32 by The_Chief_Way.

Interesting stuff...!! Thanks for sharing.

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> So, Jeff, one of the big SD's is still down. Are
> they doing the work themselves?

Yeah, they're doing the work themselves in the Springdale shops.  We were talking about this and wondering if they're just using this as an excuse to learn ALL about these units, as opposed to subcontracting the work to a place like Mid-America.

> How many Alcos are still in operation?

That's a good question.  The Springdale switcher still runs with a pair, and I believe the Monett/Ft. Smith Turn has one or two in the consist while the 3rd ACe is out of service, the passenger train was running with a C420 on each end, and I believe the other locals on the line are still ALCO powered.  So far as actual numbers though, I'm not sure.

Thanks a lot for looking,
- Jeff Carlson