Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad

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Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad
Overview
Locale Arkansas
Dates of operation1922–1998
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length27 mi (43 km)

The Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad was a shortline rail carrier in the state of Arkansas, with rails running from Nashville, Arkansas to Ashdown, Arkansas. [1] It operated from 1922 to 1998. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The trackage can be traced to the Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad, incorporated in 1906. [3] That line's original vision was to link Nashville, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee and Paris, Texas. [3] The name changed in 1910 to the Memphis, Dallas and Gulf Railway. [3] The railroad constructed a line from Ashland, Arkansas to Shawmut, Arkansas, about 61 miles. [1] When the railroad went into foreclosure in 1922, the Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown was incorporated to purchase the entire Ashland-to-Shawmut route. [1] However, 19 miles were abandoned, and the 15-mile segment from Nashville to Murfreesboro ended up with the new Murfreesboro, Nashville, Southwestern Railway, which ran it until the that line too was abandoned in 1952. [1] [4] [5] That left the Graysonia with about 27 miles from Nashville to Ashdown. [1] (Graysonia, Arkansas, then a lumber mill town and now a ghost town, did not end up on the final route, being northeast of and not between Nashville and Ashdown.) [6] [7]

By mid-century, 75% of the Graysonia’s business came from hauling cement and quarry rock. [2] The trackage was relocated in the 1960s to make room for a dam project. [2] In 1998, the line was purchased by the Kansas City Southern. [2]

The trackage was subsequently leased to Watco in 2005, and is currently operated by the Arkansas Southern Railroad. [2] [8]

Equipment and buildings

In 1926, the line obtained a Baldwin 2-6-0 “Mogul” steam freight engine, originally numbered as #203 but later renumbered as #26. [9] That engine, sold by the line in 1952, is now on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum as the Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown 26. [9]

Other locomotives used at one time or another include #55, an Alco S4 diesel; [10] #74R, also an S4; [11] and, #80, an EMD MP15DC diesel. [12]

The Graysonia train depot in Ashdown, Arkansas appears on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Little River County, Arkansas as the Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Valuation Docket No. 1125, Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown Railroad Company, pp. 265-276". 1933. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "ARS Arkansas Southern Railroad" (PDF). Kansas City Southern Lines. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Memphis, Dallas and Gulf Railway Company right-of-way agreement, 1909". Arkansas Digital Archives. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Murfreesboro, Nashville, Southwestern Railway Company". 1933. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Murfreesboro (Pike County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Graysonia (Clark County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ashdown, Arkansas to Graysonia, Arkansas". Google Maps. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Arkansas State Rail Plan 2015, p. 2-22" (PDF). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown 26". Illinois Railway Museum. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Pictures of GNA 55". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Pictures of GNA 74R". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Pictures of GNA 80". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  13. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-04. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
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