Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad

Last updated
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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Nashville is a city in Howard County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. The estimated population in 2018 was 4,425. The city is the county seat of Howard County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashdown, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Ashdown is a city in Little River County, Arkansas, United States. The community was incorporated in 1892 and has been the county seat since 1906. Located within the Arkansas Timberlands between the Little River and the Red River, Ashdown's economy and development have historically been tied to the timber industry. Timber is still a major industry here.

The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the midstate, a service which many businessmen felt was not being adequately provided by the existing railroad companies. They also wanted to ship coal and iron ore to the Northeastern US over the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which was leased to the Southern and operated as the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNOTP), through their Cincinnati gateway. The N&K was only completed between Lebanon, where it connected to a Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway branch from Nashville, and Standing Stone.

<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">Georgia and Florida Railway (2005)</span>

The Georgia and Florida Railway is a short line railroad operating in Georgia and Florida, and is a subsidiary of OmniTRAX. The railroad spans 297 miles (478 km) over numerous different rail lines, most of which radiate out of Albany, Georgia.

<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">St. Louis Southwestern Railway</span> Defunct American railway

The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prescott and Northwestern Railroad</span>

The Prescott and Northwestern Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Prescott, Arkansas. It is operated by Arkansas Midland Railroad, which is owned by Genesee & Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad</span> Class III shortline railroad in Missouri

The Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class II Regional Railroad in the U.S. states of Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. The company is headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad which connected Joplin, Missouri, with Helena, Arkansas, from 1906 to 1946.

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

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

The Arkansas Southern Railroad is a short-line railroad which started service in October 2005. ARS operates two disconnected lines consisting of Heavener, Oklahoma to Waldron, Arkansas, and Ashdown to Nashville, Arkansas, plus a switch track at Ashdown, for a total of 63 miles. The lines are leased from Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) to ARS's owner, the Watco Companies (Watco).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk Southern Railway (1942–1982)</span>

The Norfolk Southern Railway was the final name of a railroad that ran from Norfolk, Virginia, southwest and west to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1974, which merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1982 to form the current Norfolk Southern Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Railway Museum</span> Museum in Union, Illinois, U.S.

The Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, 55 miles (89 km) northwest of downtown Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas–Oklahoma Railroad</span> Class III American rail carrier

The Arkansas–Oklahoma Railroad is a Class III carrier headquartered in Wilburton, OK that operates two segments of the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRIP) Choctaw Route that originally ran between Memphis Tennessee and Tucumcari, New Mexico. AOK started operations on March 3, 1996 on 73 miles of track then owned by the U.S. state of Oklahoma between Howe and McAlester by assuming the existing lease of the Missouri Pacific, then wholly owned by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). This lease included a purchase option which AOK exercised in April 2016. The line interchanges with the Kansas City Southern Railway at Howe, and with the UP at McAlester.

Graysonia was once a boomtown in Clark County, Arkansas, United States, but has since become a ghost town. It is located on a dirt road in what is now known locally as "the middle of nowhere", halfway between Arkadelphia and Alpine. There are no populated communities in its vicinity and only a few scattered residences within a few miles of the former town's location. In the early 20th century, Graysonia was a main hub for the local timber industry. It had a population of actual residents estimated at better than 1,000.

The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (CO&G), known informally as the "Choctaw Route," was an American railroad in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashdown station</span> United States historic place

The Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot is a historic train station at the junction of Whitaker Avenue and Frisco Street in Ashdown, Arkansas. It is a single-story wood-frame structure in the Plain Traditional style with Folk Victorian elements. Notable decorative elements include brackets in the eaves and Stick-style woodwork in the gables. The exterior of the building is essentially original, while the interior has been extensively altered by multiple uses. The station was built in 1908 by the Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad, a regional railroad whose goal was to connect Memphis, Tennessee and Paris, Texas. The railroad was operated, under a variety of names and owners, including the Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad, offering passenger service until 1947 and freight service until 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral Springs station (Arkansas)</span> United States historic place

The Memphis, Paris, and Gulf Depot is a historic railroad station on Arkansas Highway 27 in Mineral Springs, Arkansas. It is a modest single-story wood-frame structure, with a gable roof. The east elevation has a projecting bay, which housed the telegrapher's office, and a double-width loading entrance. The west side of the building has loading platforms and another double-wide entrance. It was built in 1908 by the Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad, a short-lived regional railroad whose objective was to connect Memphis, Tennessee to Paris, Texas, and is the first and only railroad depot to be built in the town.

The St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans Railroad ran from Hope, Arkansas to a point near Ardmore, Oklahoma, and encompassed about 219 miles of track including a branch line. It existed from 1895 to 1907, when its assets were taken over by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (“Frisco”).

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.
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.