Western Railroad Discussion > Ozark Adventure, Day 2..Van Buren Variety

This is a follow on post to my previous one from last week which can be found here: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4275502,4275562#msg-4275562

Sorry for the long time between them, but I've been pretty busy with other stuff.

Day 2 of my adventure in the Ozarks was focused on the Van Buren/Ft Smith Arkansas area. My research (which largely consisted of what some helpful TO members provided) indicated that I could find a daylight A&M local job working here, which was a specific target, along with a host of other interconnecting lines of the UP, KCS, and Ft Smith Railroad.

I started at dawn in Van Buren, site of a small UP yard and crew change point on its main line to points north and west of Little Rock. I assume this is former Mopac territory.
1. My first train of the day was an empty coal train headed back to the PRB.
2. Word was that the A&M had a job that started at a sand loading facility adjacent to the UP main, but no power was on hand. Soon enough though, I could hear horns approaching from Ft Smith across the river, and two C420's rolled into view. They trundled around the bend, and I assumed they were going to switch the sand loading facility.
3. Meanwhile, the empty hoppers on the UP had met a loaded train, which I shot coming through the junction with the A&M main line.

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After a while, I noticed the A&M crew had detached one unit and left it near the sand plant. I could hear them switching but relized it wasn't at this spot...so I investigated and learned that the A&M branch line I assumed just tied into the UP yard actually continued on to switch a maze of industrial facilities south of Van Buren.
4. I caught up with the crew (I'm just calling them the Van Buren Local unless someone knows an actual symbol) working a small terminal facility on the Arkansas River. The flood wall made for a nice elevated shot here. I came away very impressed with the level of business the A&M has developed. They serve a wide variety of customers, and it was apparent to me that these guys were going to likely spend a good chunk of time switching in the area, so I decided to wander over to Ft Smith to see what I could find.
5. I crossed the river, following the A&M's line and another parallel track that I would soon learn belonged to the Ft Smioth Railroad, a Pioneer Railcorp operation. Before long I started hearing a horn, and ducked down a side street to find a Ft Smith Railroad GP20 trundling along with a couple of boxcars.
I decided to follow these guys, lost them behind some buildings,about a mile or two to the south, and then was orienting myself when I noticed some covered hoppers moving across a crossing 2 blocks over. I figured I had found the FSR, but it turned out I actually had found the small KCS yard in town, and had arrived at the same time as the Ft Smith Dodger from Heavener.
6. These guys had just run around their train and were just starting to break it down and do their work in town.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/17 21:20 by PittsburghMike.

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7. Ft Smith is an interesting maze of secondary and industrial trackage running seemingly every which way. I soon found a diamond just south of the KCS yard where the KCS crew stopped and waited, and soon enough, here came the FSR crew, crossing the KCS before they backed around a connecting track to deliver to the KCS crew, who continued waiting patiently after the FSR had come and gone.
8. Soon enough, I was hearing more chatter about a crew coming north on the KCS line..which was puzzling to me, but minutes later here came a single A&M C420 and a handful of cars, which were duly delivered to the KCS. This was a different A&M crew than I'd shot in the morning, and it turns out they switch some industries just south of town on a branch that comes off the KCS line. As I said, it is a confusing gaggle of lines!
9. They grabbed some cars from the KCS, and headed north back to their own yard in an impressive display of sand, sound, and smoke.

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At this point, I decided it was time to grab some lunch and check in on the other A&M crew across town.
10. I found them back at the sand loadout, with their power tied together, slowly pulling hoppers through the loadout. Eventually, they grabed an entire cut, and dragged the cars up to a small storage yard along the UP main before heading back down to the plant.
While they loaded another cut of cars, I entertained myself with a flurry of UP trains, which indluded:
11..this ballast train with the cleanest and freshest paint I've ever seen on a UP unit. I'm assuming this guy came right out of the shops in Little Rock!
12. He went up to the next siding to make a meet with an eastbound, which turned out to be a train called the River Local returning to the UP Yard in Van Buren.

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Meanwhile, the A&M crew scurried over and ducked into the UP Yard.
13. I found a dead end street that led to the west end and caught them making their pickup with the assistance of the UP utility guy. He drove over, gave me a friendly hello, told me I was good where I was at and went about his duties as the A&M crew began to pull.
14. I figured at this point the A&M guys would be heading back for their yard so I crossed the river to wait for them, and sure enough they soon rolled across the lift bridge across the river. This bridge appears to be lowered using a series of DTMF tones on the radio, a nice clue for those listening. I'd expected the crew to take the sand across the river with them, but this didn't happen. Maybe the night crew grabs this on their way north to Springdale?
15. At this point, the chase was on, at a leisurely 10-15 mph. I was suprised to notice the A&M crossing onto the parallel FSR track, and it became apparent that they were making a transfer run to FSR's yard in Ft Smith. I caught them again soon enough crossing a diamond with one of A&M's own industrial tracks in Ft Smith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/17 21:07 by PittsburghMike.

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All nice catches. Looks like you had a great trip and really did well finding your way around the confusing maze of Van Buren/Ft. Smith. Nice photos.
Brian Stevens

16. The leisurely speed gave me plenty of time to set up for a shot of the train passing the former Frisco depot at downtown Ft Smith, which I figured would be a good end to my day in this interesting town.
I decided it was time for me to head to Poteau, OK my layover spot for the evening before 2 planned days of shooting the KCS on Rich Mt. Getting over that way didn't take long, and with a little bit of light left, I elected to go check out the KCS facilities in Heavener before dark to get my bearings for the next morning.
17. Getting to the north end of the yard, I was delighted to find a northbound KCS M train getting set to head north. I located a nice curve that had been helpfully suggested in a prior post here at South Howe, OK.
18. Since the train was just getting up to speed, I raced ahead for one more shot as he passed through Howe OK, the former spot of the diamond with the old Rock Island, which is now operated by the AOK RR. As I'd seen in other posts here, the AOK had a unit laying over here, making a nice contrast of yellow and red schemes! Truth in editing note, I digitally deleted some annoying power lines in this shot :-)

At this point it had been a long day, and it was time to head back to Poteau for my hotel and a nice steak. Thanks for looking and stay tuned for Day 3 on the KCS!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/17 21:19 by PittsburghMike.

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Great job running around Fort Smith and Van Buren, I tried to do some of what you did but never came close to doing what you accomplished there! === === = === JLH

Nice variety of action in the Fort Smith / Van Buren area. Love those Alcos. Nice trip!

SantaFeRuss

Posted from Android

Great series of photos.

Ronda Thomas

Awesome series, Fantastic shots!

That last shot seems like a classic in the making!

RickL

GREAT coverage of the Fort Smith area. It really is a very confusing mix of trackage there. I was never really sure who owned each set of tracks there (except for the tracks that come off the Ark River bridge).

You caught three exL&HR units there too!

Good catch of the AOK unit. I've been to Howe a number of times, each time without luck...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/17 07:01 by RayH.

That's a great bunch, excellent job finding your way around. Good luck on Rich Mountain, it is hit or miss for sure up there.
JB

VERY NICE...!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks all. I was fortunate with some good luck on this day. A couple of times I used the old fashioned method of driving around with the windows down and heading for the sound of a horn!

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/17 06:30 by PittsburghMike.

Really, Really Awesome! Some of those shots are timeless.

What a banner day. Hoping you can keep the ball rolling.
John

Good work, sir!

Bill Gillfillan
Tulsa, OK

Great photos! Van Buren has a wonderful railroad history. The maize of trackage in and around VanBuren may be associated with the fact that the 748th Railway Operating Batallion trained in Camp Jesse Turner in VanBuren back in the early 40s. They learned and practiced their trade in the area then shipped out to India and Burma to operate the Bengal and Assam Railway during the war. The 748th was made up of men from the Texas and Pacific Railway Company and miscellaneous recruits with no previous experience. My dad being amoung the latter, acquired the necessary skills in Van Buren to eventually become an engineer while in India. Nothing like a new rail operating a steam locomotive transporting a train load of aviation gas while being shot at! ( In India and Burma). Thanks again for the great shots in and around Van Buren, Ark.