| By: | William H. Davis Jr. |
| Dates: | 9/17/2003 - 9/17/2003 |
| Album Info: | The Arkansas & Missouri Railroad ( AM ) is a short line railroad headquartered in Springdale, Ar. The A&M as it is known operates 139.5 miles of line from Ft. Smith, Ar. to Monett, Mo. The railroad interchanges freight cars with KCS at Ft. Smith, UP at Van Buren, Ar. & BNSF at Monett, Mo. A branch line connects Bentonville, Ar. with the main line at Rogers, Ar. A&M also leases 3.2 miles of track from UP at Van Buren, Ar. & provides haulage services for UP between Van Buren & the Fort Smith Railroad in Fort Smith. Operations are based out of the headquarters location in Springdale, Ar. as well as Fort Smith. Freight customers are predominantly located in those 2 geographic areas. The rail line was substantially upgraded between 2002 & 2005 & features continuous welded rail across its entire main line. The line handles 286,000 lb railcars & has vertical clearances sufficient for doublestack intermodal cars throughout. Most traffic is handled in scheduled freight trains although shuttle trains of corn make regular appearances in the Springdale area using locomotives from UP. Freight services operate 7 days per week. Traffic generally consists of grain & feed supplements, paper products, sand, plastic, food products, steel, scrap, lumber, aluminum, & mineral products. A&M also operates seasonal excursion trains between Springdale, Winslow, & Van Buren, Ar. Trains generally operate Friday & Saturday from April to Novemeber. There's a tunnel & several trestles as they pass through the Boston Mountains. Additional trains operate Sundays between Springdale & Fort Smith, Ar. in the summer. Special trains operate in the October-November fall foliage season |
