Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad

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Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown Railroad
Overview
LocaleArkansas
Dates of operation1922–1998
Technical
Track gauge4 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]

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.[3] The railroad constructed a line from Ashland, Arkansas to , 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, the Nashville to Murfreesboro segment was purchased by another line, and 19 miles were abandoned, leaving 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.)[4][5]

By mid-century, 75% of the line'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][6]

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.[7] That engine, sold by the line in 1952, is now on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum as the Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown 26.[7]

Other locomotives used at one time or another include #55, an Alco S4 diesel;[8] #74R, also an S4;[9] and, #80, an EMD MP15DC diesel.[10]

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.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Valuation Docket No. 1125, Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown Railroad Company, pp. 265-276". 1933. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e "ARS Arkansas Southern Railroad" (PDF). Kansas City Southern Lines. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Memphis, Dallas and Gulf Railway Company right-of-way agreement, 1909". Arkansas Digital Archives. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Graysonia (Clark County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Ashdown, Arkansas to Graysonia, Arkansas". Google Maps. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  6. ^ "Arkansas State Rail Plan 2015, p. 2-22" (PDF). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Graysonia Nashville & Ashdown 26". Illinois Railway Museum. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "Pictures of GNA 55". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  9. ^ "Pictures of GNA 74R". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "Pictures of GNA 80". RR Picture Archives. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  11. ^ "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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