Arkansas & Missouri
60-class C420s

A&M 60

A&M #60 is seen in Springdale, AR, May 23, 2007.

A&M #60 and 34 are seen switching the yard at Fayette Jct, AR on Jan. 4, 2008.

Engines around headquarters in Springdale, AR, Oct. 24, 2009.

As I was stopped at the traffic light at Main and 8th St., I noticed people seated on the station platform. I checked my watch. It was 2:05pm. That meant that the Winslow Turn A&M passenger train would be back very soon. I headed to the crossing at 11th St. The following series of photos shows the arrival and turning of the equipment before it heads to the station. This is the location where railfanning began for me 56 years ago when I started Junior High on the north side of the tracks. I hung out on the south side of the tracks at the maintenance sheds before school and other times. It all seemed to come together as the power was #60, the first of the C420s which the A&M rebuilt in 1988. I was the official photographer of the rebuilding and first trip.

Setting of the caboose to the run around track, which results in the parlor car's brass rail is plainly in view.

They then returned to the main and coupled to the rest of the train to set it over to pick up the caboose.

The Monett Turn finally left Springdale in the rain around 9am, Sept. 8, 2011.

It was still raining hard when the train reached Lowell, with wind blowing the rain into the car, thus the drops on the lens.

The Monett Turn picked up most of its train from a side track and then stopped at the Old Wire Road crossing to make its air test before proceeding north.

In Rogers the rain was still heavy but this time I could shoot through the passenger window.

This photo was taken just north of the location of the former station in Seligman, MO. Note the curved border to the station platform. The Missouri & Arkansas also served this station using the track along the curved edge of the platform. The M&A connection was north of the station as seen to the right in the going away shot. The M&A had trackage rights over the Frisco north to Wayne, MO where it then headed to Neosho, MO and the KCS. From Neosho the M&A headed north to Joplin, MO.

MO State 37 parallels the railroad very closely for several miles between Seligman and Washburn where this was taken.

My chase ended with these shots just south of Washburn, MO. After which I turned around and headed to Eureka Springs, AR and a visit to the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway.

In Springdale, I catch the A&M passenger train pulling into the station, on Oct. 6, 2011.

A&M 62

A&M C420 #62 leads a train of sand hoppers being pulled out of the sand plant in Van Buren, 4/14/06.

A&M C420 #62 is the middle unit of a 3 unit consist on a sand drag from the sand plant in Van Buren to the siding at Copp, 5/20/06.

A&M #62 and #60 sit at the south end of the station, 8/3/08.

This string of A&M C420s was sitting on the main line next to the A&M offices, July 3, 2010.

A&M 64

A&M C420 #64 is seen here in the Springdale yard, 5/28/2005.

A&M 66

A&M #66 is seen at Springdale on August 9, 2006.

This more normal C420 was sitting on the siding north of the station, July 3, 2010.

A&M 68

After running some errands in Van Buren, AR, we headed toward the UP yard. As we passed over the A&M tracks at Copp Siding, I noticed a train switching. We tried to shoot it there, but it started on its way back to Springdale. We gave chase, missing it at Meadors and barely reaching the town of Rudy, only to be able to get a going away shot.

I finally settle for the spot that in 1988 I shot A&M southbound freights during the 7 month sabbatical that I had at UofA, Oct. 16, 2010.

I then went to the UofA campus for tours of the underconstruction Nanoscale Material Science and Engineering Building and some Physics research labs. We grabs some lunch and headed for Winslow. We missed the arrival of the Winslow Turn but got the run around move for the engine.

Having picked up its cars, the passenger train heads south past the loading platform and into the cut which leads to the tunnel.

We chased the train to Van Buren. I dropped Jan off at the hotel and headed trackside. I caught the train passing the location where in 1954 I began watching trains up close and personal.

The engine cuts off the train and begins the run-around and turning of the train for its return to Springdale. After turning, the train heads to the station to unload the passengers from the Winslow Turn and load the passengers for Springdale.