Delta Valley and Southern Railway

Last updated
Delta Valley and Southern Railway
Dvs-map.png
Map of Delta Valley and Southern's active (red) and abandoned (pink) line
Overview
Headquarters Wilson, Arkansas
Reporting mark DVS
Locale Arkansas
Dates of operation1893–Present
Predecessor St. Louis & San Francisco Railway
Successor Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length2 Miles

The Delta Valley and Southern Railway( reporting mark DVS) is a short-line railroad headquartered in Wilson, Arkansas.

Contents

DVS operates a two-mile line in Arkansas near Wilson with one switch engine.[ citation needed ]

History

Originally constructed in the 1890's as a narrow gauge line to haul timber, this 18.1-mile (29.1 km) St. Louis-San Francisco Railway branch line ran from Evadale Junction (south of Wilson, Arkansas) in Mississippi County to Deckerville (south of Tyronza, Arkansas) in Poinsett County. The line was converted to standard gauge in 1898. [1] By 1920, the Frisco was running multiple trains over the line from Deckerville to Osceola, Arkansas. [2]

The line was abandoned by the Frisco Railway in June of 1934. [3] It was soon after incorporated as the Delta Valley and Southern Railway in August 1934 by C.L. Deaton, C.W. Ferguson, L.P. Nicholson, and J.D. Newell. [4] By 1950, it was being advertised as a freight railroad with daily freight services from Wilson. [5] All but 2 miles (3.2 km) from Delpro to Evadale Junction was abandoned in 1947. [6]

The railway company became a subsidiary of Lee Wilson & Company when the latter incorporated in 1958. [7]

As of 1996, the railroad operated from its engine house at the present end of the line to a connection with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) south of Wilson. The line served one cotton processing plant owned by the R.E.L. Wilson company.

In 1970, the president of the company was R.E.L. Wilson 3rd, grandson of local plantation owner Robert E. Lee Wilson. [8] In 2002, the president and director of the company was Michael Wilson. [9]

Motive power was a GE 45-tonner side-rod locomotive, purchased new in May 1954, GE s/n 32129. The locomotive, DV&S 50, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The locomotive was housed in a single stall engine house built right over the main line of this short railroad, at the end of the line.[ citation needed ] However, that locomotive was sold in 2009. [10]

By 2023, the line is now operated as a short line of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. It's office is located in the company town of Wilson, Arkansas. [11] [12]

Surviving equipment

No. 73 is a 2-6-0 “Mogul” built by Baldwin in 1916. [13] It has 19" cylinders and 49-1/2" driving wheels. [13] Numbered as 34 by the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad before that line was sold to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco") in 1925, the locomotive was renumbered to 73 and kept by the Frisco until sold on September 19, 1945, to the Delta Valley and Southern. [13] It is preserved on the Lee Wesson Plantation in Victoria, Arkansas [14] under the Delta Valley & Southern Locomotive No. 73 name with no visible numbers on the cab or tender, [10] but with the original Frisco raccoon-skin-shaped number board and “73” on its nose. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BNSF Railway</span> American freight railroad

BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, 33,400 miles (53,800 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP30</span> Model of American 2250 hp diesel locomotive

The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway</span> Railroad in Southern United States

The Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway is a Class II railroad owned by Genesee & Wyoming. It operates 339 miles (546 km) of track from the Pensacola, Florida export terminals, west of downtown, north to Columbus, Mississippi, with trackage rights along BNSF Railway to Amory, Mississippi. A branch uses trackage rights along Norfolk Southern from Kimbrough, Alabama west and south to Mobile, Alabama, with separate trackage at the end of the line in Mobile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis–San Francisco Railway</span> Former American railroad

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad</span>

The San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad (SD&IV) is a class III railroad operating freight rail service in the San Diego area, providing service to customers in the region and moving railcars between the end of the BNSF Railway in Downtown San Diego and the Mexico–United States border in San Ysidro. The railroad has exclusive trackage rights to operate over tracks of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transit System, the regional public transit service provider. Tracks are shared with the San Diego Trolley, another subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transit System, and freight trains are only operated at night when passenger service is not in operation. The San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad was established in October 1984 and is owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming, a holding company that operates more than 100 shortline railroads like the SD&IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP9</span> Model of locomotive built by EMD

The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen-cylinder engine which generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). This locomotive type was offered both with and without control cabs; locomotives built without control cabs were called GP9B locomotives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD SD9</span> Model of 1750 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotive

The EMD SD9 is a model of diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improved and much more maintainable 567C engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Joaquin Valley Railroad</span> Central California freight transport company

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies and is part of the Western Region Division of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates over about 371 miles (597 km) of owned or leased track primarily on several lines in California's Central Valley/San Joaquin Valley around Fresno and Bakersfield. The SJVR has trackage rights over Union Pacific between Fresno, Goshen, Famoso, Bakersfield and Algoso. The SJVR also operated for the Tulare Valley Railroad (TVRR) from Calwa to Corcoran and Famoso.

The DeQueen and Eastern Railroad , also referred to as the De Queen and Eastern Railroad, is a Class III short-line railroad located in southwest Arkansas and owned by Patriot Rail Company of Jacksonville, Florida. It is operated along with its affiliate, the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad in southeast Oklahoma as a single combined railroad with 91 miles of track. Specifically, the DQE continues west from a railway connection at Perkins, Arkansas through Dierks, Lockesburg and De Queen to the Oklahoma border, while the TOE runs from the border through Broken Bow and Wright City to Valliant, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiamichi Railroad</span>

The Kiamichi Railroad Company is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Hugo, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Harbor Line</span> Switching railroad in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California

The Pacific Harbor Line was formed in 1998 to take over the Harbor Belt Line (HBL). In 1998, the Alameda Corridor was nearing completion, allowing for a massive amount of railroad traffic from the largest harbors in the Western hemisphere: Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette Valley Railway</span> Short-line railroad in western Oregon

The Willamette Valley Railway is a short-line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It leased a line from Woodburn to Stayton from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in February 1993, as well as a branch from Geer west to Salem, and purchased the property in 1996. The company also leased a line between Albany and Mill City in 1993, but transferred the lease to the Albany and Eastern Railroad in October 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad</span>

The Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (JLC&E) was a short-line railroad that operated in Mississippi and Craighead counties of northeast Arkansas. This railroad received a charter from the state of Arkansas on April 7, 1897, and track construction between Jonesboro and Blytheville began soon thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Northern Railroad</span>

The Minnesota Northern Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates over 224 miles (360 km) of track in northwestern Minnesota. The railroad is co-owned by KBN Incorporated and Independent Locomotive Service and is headquartered in Crookston, Minnesota.

The Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (AV&W) was built as a short line railroad operating within the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was founded in 1902 to link the city of Tulsa with the main transcontinental line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) at Avard. The line was built in sections, initially from AV&W Jct. to Steen (Enid) during 1902-03. In 1904 it was extended westward to the junction with AT&SF at Avard. On July 19, 1907, the railroad was purchased by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, who operated it until November 21, 1980, when the Frisco was acquired by Burlington Northern Railroad.

The V&S Railway is a shortline railroad that operates two disconnected lines in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is affiliated with A&K Railroad Materials. The company acquired its first line, a former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line between Medicine Lodge and a BNSF Railway junction at Attica, from the Central Kansas Railway in 2000. In 2006 it expanded its operations by acquiring from the Hutchinson and Northern Railway a short segment of former interurban in eastern Hutchinson, where it interchanges with the BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad. Other railroads under common control with the V&S are the out-of-service Kern Valley Railroad in Colorado, the Gloster Southern Railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi, the Grenada Railway and Natchez Railway in Mississippi, a portion of the former Rock Island from St. Louis to Union, Missouri operated by the Missouri Central and the Southern Manitoba Railway in Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Valley and Southern 50</span>

Delta Valley and Southern 50 is a standard gauge diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric in May, 1954, GE #32129 for the Delta Valley and Southern Railway. It replaced a small steam locomotive. It is of the type designated as a 45-ton, although the actual weight may be different from that. It is powered by two Cummins HBI-600 six-cylinder diesel prime movers, each of which drives a generator which, in turn, drives a single electric traction motor, one on each truck. The second axle on each truck is driven by a side rod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona and California Railroad</span> Short line railroad in the Southwestern United States

The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railway. ParkSierra Railgroup was purchased in January 2002 by shortline railroad holding company RailAmerica. The Genesee & Wyoming shortline railroad holding company purchased RailAmerica in December 2012. ARZC's main commodities are petroleum gas, steel, and lumber; the railroad hauls around 12,000 carloads per year.

References

  1. ↑ "Evadale Junction to Deckerville Branch to be closed". Springfield Leader and Press. 1933-03-27. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  2. ↑ "Two New Trains for Osceola". The Osceola Times. 1920-10-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  3. ↑ "Frisco Branch Line in Arkansas Bought". The Commercial Appeal. 1934-08-15. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  4. ↑ "Delta & Southern Valley RR Incorporated". The Courier News. 1934-06-27. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  5. ↑ "Delta Valley & Southern RW Advert". The Courier News. 1950-10-10. p. 167. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  6. ↑ "DSV RW Line Abandonment". Macon Chronicle-Herald. 1947-03-24. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  7. ↑ "1958-01-31_Delta_Valley_Southern". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. 1958-01-31. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  8. ↑ "Strictly Business". The Courier News. 1970-12-10. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  9. ↑ "Board approves Dr. Stock for Trusteeship". The Mountaineer Echo. 2002-02-28. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  10. 1 2 "Historic Trains of Arkansas—Locomotives and Railcars". Julie Kohl, Only in Arkansas, February 5, 2019. 5 February 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  11. ↑ Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide. Kalmbach. p. 102.
  12. ↑ "Shortline Directory | BNSF". BNSF Railway. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "New Frisco Survivor" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, January, 1990 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Surviving Steam Locomotives in Arkansas". SteamLocomotive.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.


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.