A&M/BNSF Business-Special

51 Years of Railroad Photography
1960-2011

From Ft. Smith, AR to Butterfield, MO
Returning to Springdale, AR
March 17, 2011

Photos by Mike Condren

The passenger equipment for this special arrived in Ft. Smith on March 15, 2011 and was stored in the A&M (former Frisco) North Yard. My first photos were taken about 7:30am CDT when it was so dark I was shooting at ISO 1600 and 1/100 sec. These photos are of the consist backing out of North Yard on their way to the former Frisco passenger station.

The rear car, BNSF 30 Glacier View, is a former full-length dome car which has had the rear converted into theater seating for viewing out the rear of the car while traveling down the track.
The next car, BNSF 11 Fred Harvey, is a diner named after the person who provided food service at lunch stops for the Santa Fe and Frisco. The movie "Harvey Girls" starring Judy Garland told the story of the young ladies who worked and lived together in these Harvey Houses
The next car, BNSF 45 Powder River, is a former bi-level commuter car converted to sight-seeing lounge car before aquired by the BNSF.
The fourth car from the rear, BNSF 6 Topeka, is a former square-end observation/lounge sleeper.
My cameras auto-focus malfunctioned on the shot of the sleeper BNSF 64 Marias Pass. The car behind the locomotives, BNSF 52 Glorieta Pass, is a former baggage car converted to a power car to provide HEP (head-end power) to the passenger cars.
The A&M provided 2 C420s, 52 and 68, as power for the train.

Next we see the train backing past the Pavillion across the tracks from the Miss Laura's, the Ft. Smith Welcome Center (only former brothel Welcome Center in the nation).
The camera behaved for the picture of BNSF 64 Marias Pass.
The turbo on the A&M #52 was not working properly as evidenced by the puff of black smoke as the engineer notches out the throttle.

These shots are at the former Frisco station and match various shots of Frisco passenger trains 45+ years earlier.

The train waited at the old station until everyone arrived and they were ready to load the train as at least one State 59T crossing will be blocked by the train.

As the train loaded, I repositioned myself at the station in Van Buren to shoot the train coming by that structure. A car raced across in front of the train as it approached the station.

At Chester my camera acted strange, allowing for this distance shot showing downtown and the train in the distance but then nothing until the train had passed.

The date stone from over the south portal is on display by the pavillon for A&M passengers at Winslow. The plague has a serious error. This tunnel is not near Rogers, AR, much closer to West Fork or Fayetteville, even Springdale or Lowell.

The train could be heard coming up the mountain. Then they sounded the 1-mile single toot on the horn. A few minutes later the sound of the train disappeared as the train entered the tunnel. Here we see the train as it is exiting the tunnel and running through the cut on the north side of the tunnel. As the train cleared the crossing, there was a rush of traffic as the rear of the train headed down the mountain.

My next location was Brentwood where during my college days the RPO of the passenger train would pick up a bag of mail on-the-fly. I regularly stood in the vestibule of the coach just behind the RPO and watched this operation up close.

The next location was the station area in Fayetteville from the Lafayette St. overpass at the north end of the station.

I then headed for Springdale. I was surprized to hear the horn of the special at the south end of town and was able to get to the station before the special.

Apparently #52 had been giving trouble on the trip up to Springdale as they replaced it with #58. One person reported that the engineer had been operating the train from the second unit with the conductor blowing the horn from the engineer's seat in the lead unit.

The train continue to Butterfield, MO where it turned on the wye and returned to Springdale so that the business men passengers could catch buses to return to Ft. Smith. I caught up with the train again as it approached the station in Springdale on its return.

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