In 1942, Cotton Belt officials petitioned the War Production Board for authorization to buy five new EMD FTdiesel locomotives for their growing freight business.[5] Work on the new L1 Northerns began on Tuesday June 2, 1942, but the delivery of the boilers from the Baldwin Locomotive Works lagged.[5] The five new boilers were shipped by Baldwin to Pine Bluff between November 5 and December 12, 1942.[5] The rail journey from Philadelphia to Pine Bluff took about five days for each boiler.[5] Work by the Cotton Belt shop forces took an additional five or six weeks to complete each new locomotive.[5]
On February 8, 1943, the last of these five L1 steam locomotives, No. 819, was placed in active service.[5] It was the final locomotive constructed by the Cotton Belt's own staff of mechanical engineers, mechanical officers, foremen and workers in the company shops at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The cost to build was $143,607.00 and it was to be the last locomotive produced in Arkansas.[6]
No. 819 traveled more than 804,000 miles during its 10.5 years of service, before being forced aside by the more modern diesel locomotives. On July 19, 1955, Cotton Belt's President H. J. McKenzie presented retired No. 819 to the City of Pine Bluff to show the Cotton Belt's gratitude for the part the city had played in their steam locomotive operations. McKenzie commented that this model engine is generally conceded to be one of the best designed and most attractive of its type ever built. He recalled how the engine had been built by local craftsmen, who were very proud of them, and he hoped that the people of Pine Bluff would be equally proud to display it in their public park.
Retirement
In order to raise money for the cost of moving and constructing a permanent display structure for the engine, the City of Pine Bluff sold "shares" in the locomotive to the school children in Jefferson County. Children were requested to "buy" Engine 819 by contributing one penny per pound (the engine & tender weigh 541,300 pounds) and were presented with cards signed by the mayor indicating the number of "shares" purchased. It had been estimated they needed to raise $4,000.00 for the concrete based, metal roofed, pipe framed shed surrounded by a concrete walkway and 6-foot-high (1.8m) fence. The problem of getting the locomotive moved to the display was solved when Cotton Belt agreed to lend materials for a temporary spur to the park. Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific employees contributed the labor in building the spur and moving the historic locomotive and tender.[7]
However, just four years later, the Pine Bluff Commercial ran this note in the October 6, 1959 edition:
A Commercial newsman's inspection this week of the Cotton Belt locomotive permanently on display on a site between Oakland and Townsend Parks revealed the old steam engine has been neglected by the city. When the railroad donated the engine to the city it did so with the stipulation that the locomotive would receive proper care. Not only had the engine been allowed to deteriorate through rust, the effects of the weather in non-metal portions and acts of vandalism, but the grounds have been allowed to grow up around the fenced-in area so that visitors must trudge through weeds to get an up-close look at the locomotive.[8]
It took most of a year to get 819's situation improved. It was decided to move the engine to a new location approximately 150 yards west of its old spot, near the front of the Reserve building. The Pine Bluff Jaycees spearheaded the drive to build a green and white steel shed at the new location, while the move and reconditioning was being coordinated by members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Cotton Belt employees. Several civic organizations talked of undertaking the project of restoring the engine to better condition, only to find out that such a project required technical know-how that only railmen possessed. That was when BRT stepped in and offered to assist with the engine.
"Before we're through," one of the men said "that old engine will look just like it did the day it rolled out of the shop she was built in. We hope to have her fixed where she'll be better taken care of, too."[9]
During the move to her new location between Townsend and Oakland Parks, Engine 819 "broke loose" and coasted down an incline on her temporary track. The locomotive, after starting to coast, rammed the park's lake embankment and finally stopped against a large black oak tree. The workmen labored the next day to get the engine back on her rails and into place. Crews stated they expected to have the locomotive in her new quarters in about two more weeks.[10]
Engine 819 under the shed in the park.
Although the engine and tender were successfully relocated during the Fall of 1960, it was several more years before the steel shed was erected overhead to protect the locomotive. In addition to the Pine Bluff Jaycees, the City of Pine Bluff and the Pine Bluff Park Commission each donated $500. Pine Bluff Mayor Franks personally donated $250 and another $250 was donated by the Townsend Park Commission. Gene Gardner, an engineer with International Paper, designed the green and white steel shed and drew up the plans for it. International Paper Company and the Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Company furnished the concrete footings for the shed, while Varco Steel did the construction work. Construction of the shed was completed in September 1965 when a chain-link fence was installed and the landscaping was finished.
Upon completion of Engine 819's new home in 1965, Mayor Austin Franks shared one of the two keys to the gate with long-time railfan James Norris. Norris' father had taken the locomotive out for her first run in 1943 and young James always remembered his late-father when he saw the engine. Despite being in his late 50s and in failing health, James Norris faithfully visited the locomotive every week to knock off the bird nests and occasionally replace some broken glass in the cab. He would open the gate on Sundays while he was there to let kids climb on the locomotive, ring the bell and answer their many questions.
"Every time I come out here I can see my daddy standing right on that step." Norris said "It kinda gets down in your heart."[11]
It is uncertain when Mr. Norris' health got so bad that he could no longer continue his weekly maintenance visits to the 819, but he admitted in 1965 that his doctor had told him to stay away from the locomotive. Records indicate that Mr. Norris died in 1970 and by 1983 the Arkansas Democrat described the locomotive as "covered in graffiti and vandals have removed, or tried to take, whatever wasn't too heavy to carry off." Miss Arkansas of 1958, Sally Miller Perdue, from Pine Bluff complained "It had been abandoned and stripped of all its dignity. It has become the iron-horse that was put out to pasture, neglected and abused."
Ms. Perdue, whose family had a long history with the railroad, agreed to chair a sub-committee of the Chamber of Commerce's Publicity & Tourism to get the 819 rejuvenated and relocated. With a slogan of "Let's Put the Steam Back in Pine Bluff", she felt that a lot of volunteers, mainly retired Cotton Belt craftsmen and engineers, would be interested in working to restore the 819. Superintendent R. R. McClanahan of the Cotton Belt Pine Bluff Division worked hard to get the locomotive and tender transported from the park back to the shops to make those repairs.[12]
Return to the Cotton Belt shops
On December 1, 1983, a force of between 50 and 100 Cotton Belt employees, most of them volunteers, assisted by railfans and rail historical groups, placed Engine 819 back on Cotton Belt rails for the first time in nearly three decades and transported the engine 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6km) from the park back to the site of its manufacturing 40 years earlier. Members of the newly formed Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society moved the locomotive back to the Cotton Belt shops, where it was to be restored in a bold project to show Arkansans what past gigantic locomotives looked like.[13]
Although the ownership of the locomotive was retained by the city, the restoration of the 819 was the responsibility of "Project 819", an all-volunteer effort by two rail historical preservation groups: the Arkansas Railroad Club and the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society. The project leased space needed at the Cotton Belt shops in Pine Bluff to complete the restoration, which was projected to take 18–24 months.[14]
While the engine languished in the park, various parts disappeared including its bell, whistle, Cotton Belt emblems and many of the gauges. Jake Commer, President of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society at the time, offered a "no questions asked" policy for the return of these items and received many of the parts back, including the whistle and one of the emblems. The original bell was never located however and the one currently on the engine is from another 800 class locomotive. That bell was used for many years by the Wesley United Methodist Church in Pine Bluff before being donated to Project 819.[15]
Led by Bill B. Bailey, the Restoration Director for "Project 819", seven separate volunteer groups worked six days a week on various sections of the locomotive and tender in hopes of getting the engine totally restored and federally certified as worthy to run on the rails again. Mr. Bailey estimated that about 20% of the volunteers had actually worked on the locomotive or went through an apprenticeship in the early 1940s when the 819 or other 800-class steam locomotives were built in the Cotton Belt Shops at Pine Bluff.[14]
First restoration and excursion service (1986-1993)
A close-up of No. 819's cylinders & valve gear
On April 6, 1986, Engine 819 moved out of the Cotton Belt Route's yard at Pine Bluff marking the first time it had moved under its own power since 1953. The large crowd gathered at the railyard, including a number of railroad employees, burst into applause and shouted their approval as the locomotive's nose emerged from the shop building with the American and Arkansas flags affixed to the locomotive. Members of the Cotton Belt Railroad Historical Society invested over 35,000 man-hours into this restoration project. Jake Commer praised the efforts the Cotton Belt Route had extended, stating "They helped us so much I can't even begin to tell you about all of it. If it hadn't been for the railroad, we couldn't have done it."[16]
Twenty days later, on April 26, 1986, Engine 819 pulled into Fordyce on her first full-fledged trip out of Pine Bluff in 31 years. School children from Pine Bluff, Rison, Kingsland and Fordyce waved and shouted their delight at the engine. Cars of railfans followed the train's path, taking pictures.[17]
On June 13, 1986, Engine 819 participated in the Arkansas State Sesquicentennial with a trip to Little Rock and was perhaps Pine Bluff's most visible contribution to the weekend events marking the state's 150th birthday. In addition to Pine Bluff's Mayor Robinson, Louis Ramsay - Chairman of the state's Sesquicentennial Commission, and Judge Earl Chadick, Sr. of Jefferson County, Hillary Clinton also rode up from Pine Bluff in the opulent VIP car named "The Houston" on loan from the Cotton Belt. Governor Bill Clinton joined his wife and the other riders on board when the train slowed to a crawl behind Barton Coliseum, just minutes from Little Rock's Union Station. Engine 819 spent the weekend on display at Union Station, just a few blocks north of the state capitol, as part of Arkansas' Sesquicentennial celebration, before returning to Pine Bluff.[18]
During the summer of 1986, film crews came to Pine Bluff for the production of the movie End of the Line. Engine 819 played a minor role along with 35 Pine Bluff residents turned-actors, many of them members of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society who had helped restore the steam engine. Arkansas-born actress Mary Steenburgen was the film's executive producer, who worked hard to be able to use the newly restored locomotive for the movie.[19] On August 27, Pine Bluff residents were treated to a special premiere showing of the Orion Pictures film at the Pine Mall Cinema. Proceeds from the $5.00 tickets were given to the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society.
For the next seven years, the locomotive traveled on numerous excursions, including a trip to the 1990 NRHS convention in St. Louis, where it stood at Union Station with Union Pacific Railroad's No. 844, Frisco No. 1522 and Norfolk Southern's Norfolk & Western No. 1218.[20] No. 819 ran its final excursion train to Tyler, Texas and return in October 1993, and it was last fired up in 1994 before it would be permanently silenced.[21] Also in 1993, the St. Louis Southwestern had been merged into the SP, which would later be merged into the UP, which is not as steam-friendly as SP was.
The locomotive is partially disassembled for its mandated 15-year Federal Railroad Administration inspection. The boiler has been “ultra-sounded” and documented, with only a small area of the firebox remaining to be checked. The flue tubes were removed with plans made for their replacement. A sudden increase in material costs and various emergency repairs needed at the museum over the years have exhausted funds that were hoped to be used to complete the project. The locomotive sat idle inside the museum, awaiting its return to steam and possible future travels.[22]
In March 2021, the Arkansas State Legislature passed an act designating No. 819 the official locomotive of Arkansas with the hope that the passing of this act would encourage and provide for future funds for a restoration to operating condition and protection for the locomotive.[23]
Related Research Articles
The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the Western U.S.. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California.
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", was a Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas from 1891 to 1980, when the system added the Rock Island's Golden State Route and operations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The Cotton Belt operated as a Southern Pacific subsidiary from 1932 until 1992, when its operation was assumed by Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
Gov. Stanford is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive originally built in 1862 by Norris Locomotive Works. Following construction, it was disassembled and hauled by the ship Herald of the Morning around Cape Horn to California, then up the rivers aboard the schooner Artful Dodger, arriving in Sacramento on October 6, 1863. With a dedication ceremony that included artillery discharge, it entered service on November 9, 1863, and it was used in the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in North America by Central Pacific Railroad bearing road number 1. It was Central Pacific's first locomotive and it is named in honor of the road's first president and ex-California governor, Leland Stanford.
Nickel Plate Road 765 is a S-2 class 2-8-4 "Berkshire" type steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road". In 1963, No. 765, renumbered as 767, was donated to the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where it sat on display at the Lawton Park, while the real No. 767 was scrapped at Chicago in 1964.
An oil burner engine is a steam engine that uses oil as its fuel. The term is usually applied to a locomotive or ship engine that burns oil to heat water, to produce the steam which drives the pistons, or turbines, from which the power is derived.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) is a museum in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, that is devoted to the topic of transportation.
The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) is a non-profit organization established in 1935 in the United States to promote interest in, and appreciation for the historical development of railroads. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and organized into 16 regions and 170 local chapters located in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The NRHS sponsors the popular RailCamp summer orientation program in partnership with Amtrak and the National Park Service, offering high school youth hands-on experience in the railroad industry.
Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959, and was later restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion service for their steam program, pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States from 1987 to 1991. It is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
Arkansas Railroad Museum is located on Port Road in Pine Bluff, Arkansas at the former Cotton Belt (SSW) yard.
The Pennsylvania Railroad G5 is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives built by the PRR's Juniata Shops in the mid-late 1920s. It was designed for passenger trains, particularly on commuter lines, and became a fixture on suburban railroads until the mid-1950s.
Atlanta and West Point 290 is a P-74 steam locomotive built in March 1926 by the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. It is a 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive, which was remarkably similar to the Southern Railway's Ps-4 class. With sister locomotive No. 190 built for the Western Railway of Alabama (WRA), No. 290 ferried the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train on the West Point Route between Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama until its retirement from revenue service in 1954.
Norfolk and Western 611, also known as the "Spirit of Roanoke" and the "Queen of Steam", is the only surviving example of Norfolk and Western's (N&W) class J 4-8-4 type "Northern" streamlined steam locomotives. Built in May 1950 at N&W's Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, it was one of the last mainline passenger steam locomotives built in the United States and represents a pinnacle of American steam locomotive technology.
The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS) is a non-profit group in New Haven, Indiana that is dedicated to the restoration and operation of the ex-Nickel Plate Railroad's steam locomotive no. 765 and other vintage railroad equipment. Since restoration, the 765 was added to the National Register of Historic Places as no. 96001010 on September 12, 1996 and has operated excursion trains across the Eastern United States. In 2012, the FWRHS's steam locomotive no. 765 was added to the Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program.
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Caboose #2325 is a historic railroad caboose. It was built in 1920 by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway at its Pine Bluff, Arkansas shop, and is one of only a few surviving 2300-series cabooses. It was used by the railroad on its Paragould-Blytheville route and was acquired by the Paperton Junction Southern Railway in 1980 and restored.
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Steam Locomotive #336 is a historic railroad steam locomotive, located at the Arkansas Railroad Museum in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It is a Class D3 2-6-0 Mogul-style locomotive, built in 1909 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She served on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway until 1947, and served industrial customers until 1963. It was placed on display in Lewisville, Arkansas until 1994, when it was donated to the museum. It is the last remaining 330-series locomotive used by the Cotton Belt.
Atlantic Coast Line 1504 is a 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in March 1919 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia, for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) as a member of the P-5-A class under the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) standard. No. 1504 was assigned to pull ACL's premier mainline passenger trains during the 1920s to early 40s and even secondary passenger trains and mainline freight trains in the late 1940s until it was retired from revenue service at the end of 1952.
Alaska Railroad 557 is an S160 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in 1944 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps during World War II. It was subsequently transferred to the Alaska Railroad to pull freight trains, maintenance trains, and occasional passenger trains throughout the state of Alaska. It was the last steam locomotive to be removed from service on the railroad before it was sold to a scrap dealer in Everett, Washington and then to Monte Holm, who operated it a few times and displayed it in his House of Poverty Museum. No. 557 returned to Alaska in January 2012, and as of mid-2024, it is nearing completion of a rebuild to operate on the Alaska Railroad.
Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Co. 38 is a preserved 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive. It was built by Baldwin in April 1927 for use on the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Company in south central Pennsylvania in the United States, which commonly used the locomotive to pull short-distance freight trains, as well as occasional passenger trains, until the railroad shut down operations in 1954. The locomotive was subsequently acquired by the Rail City Historical Museum in Sandy Creek, New York for static display. In the late 1960s, No. 38 was sold to the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad in Lakeville, New York, who restored the locomotive to operating condition to pull their excursion trains.
The Cotton Belt Class L-1 was a class of 20 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives that were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway at their own Pine Bluff Shops.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
