Recent Digital Photos
by Mike Condren

51 Years of Railroad Photography 1960-2011

June 22, 2011

On my trip from Memphis to Tahlequah, I made my usual tour of the UP and A&M yards in Van Buren, AR. There was no UP action, but I spotted the A&M switcher in the UP yard making a pick up. The A&M switches the industrial park and port trackage for the UP in addition to switching their own trackage.

June 24, 2011

I returned to Van Buren on Friday to ride the Winslow Turn. I got there early so I checked the usual UP and A&M yards. I found this pair of units working in the A&M yard.

I then parked near the Main Street refueling station of the UP and caught these images of A&M #57 working by itself, having dropped C420 #54. C420 #54 is one of two original units on the A&M which came over to AR from the Maryland and Delaware with the Hanolds.

The A&M #57 continued to switch as a UP loaded unit coal train appeared at the Main Street crossing. The dust is from the fuel truck which appeared to refuel the DPU unit on the rear of the coal train.

The loaded UP coal train pulls down the mainline in Van Buren on its eastbound journey.

This is the former Frisco passenger station which is now used by the A&M. The building also houses a museum. To the left of the station, and one block down Main Street, we see the cone shaped top of the one time Crawford County Bank building. The next image shows the building closer up.

This cover for the Crawford County Sportlight is a painting by my long time friend John Bell. Years ago John designed a model of this building for a manufacturer who marketed it. John is an accomplished model railroader in addition to being a fine painter.

The rails in the pavement here once served the freight house and cotton platform.

This is the distance signal for the home signal at the UP crossing.

This bench mark shows the elevation of the Frisco station above sea level.

Coffeyville V B & T Co. bricks are used extensively in the AR, OK, and MO area, plus others.

The A&M passenger train from Springdale arrives and begins changing the position of the engine for the Winslow Turn.

The unit then took the passing track to get to the opposite end of the train. It then pushed the train into the station for loading.

In the meantime the crew of volunteers for the Winslow Turn were gathering at the station.

I rode in A&M coach #105, Golden Age, a former CNJ commuter coach.

Volunteer car attendant David McDonald, a friend of over 40 years, is seen here as the narrator for the car. I rode the train on this date so that I could ride with David.

As we left Van Buren, I tried to shoot the station out the rear window of the coach. Sorry about the color. I forgot to adjust the ISO and shutter speed from the shot of the info on the car.

At Winslow the engine ran around the train on the passing track and then coupled to our coach. The A&M requires that everyone is seated during coupling. Thus I had to shoot the engine approaching our train at the crossing instead of closer. I then shot the engine after we were coupled.

On the return trip I got this shot of the view from the 125' high trestle #1 showing the heavily wooden mountain side opposite our train.

This is the view from trestle #2 showing a house and clearing near the top of the mountain. This trestle is reported to be 110' tall.

This views shows how A&M is trying to stabilize the ROW with the aid of large rock.

This view from trestle #3 looks very similar to the views from the other 2 high trestles. This trestle is also reported to be 110' tall.

During the construction of the line in the 1880s, the several of the workers contracted small pox and died. They were buried along the right of way. The A&M has dedicated this site to their memory by erecting these crosses and by mowed the area as needed.

During my time at UofA, this place became occupied.

In the 1960s this former WPA constructed school was vacant. Today this is a nice home.

One night in the middle 1960s, the FP7 could not make transition downward for the climb up Winslow hill. We went back to Chester to make a phone call to Ft. Smith to get a engine to pull the train to Monett. We made the phone call from this store. I stayed with the train and arrived in Fayetteville several hours late that night.

During the summer of 1980, Jan and I lived in Fayetteville while I worked in the chemistry department of the University of Arkansas. One weekend we headed to Clarksville chasing a Frisco freight. After the shots in Chester, we stopped at this store for something to drink until we could not come up with enough money.

When I was a kid, the "Silver Bridge" was a popular swimming spot. Many a summer day was spent cooling off in the water of Frog Bayou.

Another favorite swimming hole was also on Frog Bayou, a place called the Grotto.

On the first "fan trip", Randy Hannold had a school bus pick us up at the Grotto and took us to a spot on the hill near the I540 overpass. He had #22 and the combine to stop in the clear for us to photograph from on high. The bus then took us track side at the second image location to reboard the train for the ride into Ft. Smith.

Last September the "Rare Mileage" trip stopped here for us to get shots of the train on the bridge. In 1963 Louis Marre and I arranged for a shot of Frisco Train #710 on this bridge.

The Rudy station once stood opposite this store.

Back in Van Buren, the train is preparing to leave Van Buren for Springdale.

After lunch at the Cottage Cafe across the street from the station, I found the power for the freight that we saw earlier in Chester.

J A "Tony" Hannold was the first President of the A&M when it started up in 1987.

A&M C420 #60 was the first unit completely rebuilt in their shops in 1988. It originally carried the name of Chris MacDermot. Below is my picture of the dedication which appeared in Trains magazine.

This empty unit coal train was parked at the refueling station at Main Street in Van Buren.

This is the "builder's plate" for the Ft. Smith-Van Buren Free Bridge.

This loaded unit train is parked on the main line at the South 28th Street end of the yard.

This train is being helt out of the yard because the mainline and passing track are occupied.

June 25, 2011

On my way to Springdale for the shop tour, I drove through town to the site where the KCS station stood. The foundation is still visible.

After a brief stay, the scanner reported a train at a nearby defect detector. The first to appear was this southbound led by a TFM unit. As soon as this train blocked my view of the mainline, an empty unit coal train passes.

The A&M has torn down a warehouse and a shop building in preparation for the construction of a new 20,000 sq. ft. shop building with a overhead crane. This work has temporarily made it possible to get pictures of power sitting on the track to the east of the mainline.

A&M #44 is in a engine repair. It threw a rod and is having its engine exchanged.

Unit #48 is in the original shop building for repairs. The first units rebuilt by the A&M were done in this building.

T6 #12 is the other unit in the original shop building which once contained the offices of the Chiet Mechanical Officer and the Shop Superintendent.

Friend Ray Peacock from Madison, WI climbed up on the running board of C420 #48 to tour the cab.

Here we see two 251C engines undergoing rebuilding in the original shop building.

Our tour next turned to the dispatching center where we see the dispatcher, a computer screen with the GPS positions of all of the active locomotives, and a computer monitor with the statis of the Ft. Smith/Van Buren Bridge.

This is the layout of the Springdale trackage. Note that there is not really a sizeable yard.

Our tour leader is explaining the operation of the dispatching center.

Here we see 7 more units stored north of the shop area. The remaining RS1 is stored here.

The excursion train to Van Buren has returned and its cars parked in their normal positions.

The day ended with a bar-b-que dinner on the parlor car. Here we see long time friends David and Shirley McDonald.

June 27, 2011

On my trip back to Memphis, I had business in Ft. Smith. I spotted a headlight down the Ft. Smith Railroad tracks, former MP Greenwood Branch. I went in search and found this GP20 switching the Planters Peanut plant.

In Van Buren, on the river side of the sea wall, I find the abutment of the former Ft. Smith and Van Buren Free Bridge. The "builder's plate" is displayed on the Crawford County Court House grounds and is pictured elsewhere on this page.

In the Van Buren bottom, I spot A&M #57 waiting between switching moves on the lead to Van Burn Port.

July 4, 2011

I drove down to Kentucky Street in Memphis to watch trains. I did not see any, but I discovered that a recent storm had blown down a power pole and its wires partially blocking the street. My web site about the Memphis Hot Spotis available at Kansas Ave/Kentucky Street Hot Spot

July 7, 2011

On my way to Tahlequah, I stopped by One Track Mind in suburban Little Rock. It is located along the UP mainline. While shopping, this train with NS power stopped short of the crossing at Mabelvale Road.

There was a train on the passing track preparing to leave Van Buren eastbound and cross South 28th Street.

An empty unit grain train was stopped at the refueling station at the Main Street end of the yard.

There was an A&M job parked with the engines on the fill leading to the Arkansas River bridge and a UP loaded unit coal train stopped at the A&M crossing.

The UP train was photographed down the A&M mainline from the 3rd Street crossing. In Frisco days there was a second track to the right of the mainline which was the Missouri Pacific interchange with the Frisco.

This page was designed and is maintained by Mike Condren. If you have materials
that you would like to contribute, contact me at mcondren@cbu.edu