Arkansas and Missouri Railroad is a private company located at East Emma in Springdale, Arkansas. It was created in 1986 with a purchase of track from Burlington Northern. It provides a carrier service for commercial customers as well as taking passengers on three different journeys on a historic train and is one of the few companies to do this in the United States.
The line was built between 1880 and 1882 by the St Louis and San Francisco Railroad and while it was leased to Arkansas Missouri Railroad in 1986, it was not until 2001 that the line was bought outright. As well as providing passenger excursions the company serves a number of warehouse and transload facilities. It also serves port facilities on the Arkansas River in Fort Smith and Van Buren.
The first of the three excursions takes passengers to the historic town of Van Buren, where they can enjoy shopping at some of the 80 stores, take in some sight-seeing and enjoy a fine lunch. Visitors will stay in Van Buren for about three hours during which time passengers from Van Buren can take the trip back to Springdale via the Boston Mountains. One of the big attractions in Van Buren is the King Opera House on Main Street, which was built in the late 19th century and is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young actor who was flogged to death.
The Van Buren to Winslow in Missouri excursion is a 70 mile round trip through the Boston Mountain range of the Ozarks. It takes passengers over three valley trestles and through a 1,700 foot long tunnel and provides some wonderful scenic views. The third trip also heads to Winslow but starts from Fort Smith.
This third excursion is a four hour journey departing from Fort Smith's Trolley Museum in South 4th Street. This trip takes passengers over the Arkansas River Bridge and past Van Buren. The journey moves through the scenic mountains, over the high trestles and the long tunnel as well and passengers are entertained by a commentary from the conductors.
Fort Smith offers some other places of interest as well as downtown shopping, and visitors interested in the historic carriages of the railroad may be interested in the Fort Smith Trolley Museum. As well as displaying some old streetcars from the 1920s and 30s, the museum has restored these historic forms of transport so that they are now operating again. The timetable for the three excursions is generally adhered to quite stringently, but delays are sometimes encountered on this working railroad.
The Springdale to Van Buren trip sets off at 8am on Fridays and Saturdays between April and September and also Wednesdays during October and November. Van Buren to Winslow operates the same days and same time of year as the Springdale to Van Buren rides but sets off at 11am. The Fort Smith to Winslow excursion runs at 11am on Saturdays during January, February and March.
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