| Updated on May 15, 2003 |
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Restored locomotive picture courtesy Mr. Barney Southworth.
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-- The technical specifications of the locomotive. -- -- Built: 1924 by Alco (American Locomotive Company) at it's Cooke Works plant in Patterson, NJ -- Configuration: 2-6-0 Mogul -- Builder number: 65200 -- Road number: 300 -- Cylinders: 16" (bore) x 24" (stroke) -- Boiler Pressure: 165 psi -- Diameter of Drivers: 46" -- Tractive Effort: 18,500 lb. -- Weight: 88,000 -- Weight on Drivers: 73,000 -- Condemned: by the ICC inspector in the late-1950's. -- Ownership History: 3/1924- Virginia Central #300; 10/1926- Arkansas Railroad #300; date unknown- Augusta Railroad #300; 1959- static display at Paragould, Arkansas; 1/1988- moved to the St LIM&S in Jackson, MO; 1/2003- now on display in Grand Rapids, MI. -- ALCO History: Cook Locomotive and Machine Works was originally started in 1852 as Danforth-Cook. In 1901, Cook Locomotive and Machine Works merged with 7 other locomotive manufacturing plants to form American Locomotive Company in an effort to compete with locomotive building giant, Baldwin Locomotive Works. After the merger, the Cook shops were simply referred to as Cook Works. The shops remained in full manufacturing operation until it's closing in 1926. The 8 locomotive plants that merged to create ALCO was; Schenectady Locomotive Works- Schenectady, NY; Brooks Locomotive Works- Dunkirk, NY; Cook Locomotive & Machine Works- Patterson, NY; Dickson Manufacturing Company- Scranton, PA; Manchester Locomotive Works- Manchester, NH; Pittsburgh Locomotive & Car Works- Pittsburgh, PA; Rhode Island Locomotive Works- Providence, RI; Richmond Locomotive Works- Richmond, VA During it's 74 years in service the Cook plant built over 3000 steam locomotives. One of those being our beloved #300. -- Some Great News! (February 5, 2003) -- The locomotive has finally received it's much deserved facelift and is now being displayed in Michigan ! Many, many thanks to Mr. Barney Southworth for providing confirmation that the locomotive has received the planned cosmetic restoration and is now sitting in front of the Grooters building. The original brass smokebox plate was allowed to be taken by the Grooters crew and now once again resides on the front of the smokebox door. I'm also glad to report that the locomotive was allowed to retain the road number that it has had it's entire life, and is painted under the cab window on each side. 'John Engler' (the current Governor of Michigan) has been painted on the sides of the tender. The overall paint scheme is a bit unusual with a combination of red, green, gold, black and white. Mr. Barney Southworth took the above photograph on February 1, 2003. Information given by Mr. Southworth states that the locomotive is facing North along side Hynes Ave and the railroad tracks at Union Station Industrial Park in Grand Rapids, MI. Many thanks to Mr. Braid and Mr. Southworth for their generous help. -- A glimpse into the heritage of this locomotive. -- At the entrance to Harmon Playfield , a park in Paragould, Arkansas , there once rested an antique steam locomotive and it's tender on a short length of track. The locomotive and tender served many purposes. Playground equipment, point of interest for the community, reminder of times past, and backdrop to many pictures, including several High School Senior Class pictures. Unfortunately, the locomotive, tender, and accompanying rails is now long gone, but the 10' by 50' concrete pad which supported the locomotive and tender is still in place. If you look closely, the outline of the railroad ties are still visible on the concrete, as are several rust stains from the many years of weather taking a toll on the locomotive and tender. This is truly amazing considering the locomotive was removed 15 years ago. During the construction of the concrete pad, the workers took the initiative to emboss the concrete with the date of it's being poured. The date 9 15 59 was placed at the East and the West ends by way of metal house numbers. Most of the metal numbers are long gone, but their outline can still be plainly seen. The Paragould Parks and Recreation Department recently placed two picnic tables on the concrete pad. The pad once again serves a purpose, but it's still a sad reminder every time I pass by. As some of you have already figured out, I have a real affinity with the old locomotive that once sat at Harmon's Park. My fond memories stem from getting to play on the locomotive as a child. The locomotive sat unguarded for many years, and for the most part, with very little vandalism. I'm sure that there were numerous children that were injured while playing on it, but this was before our society spiralled into a "lawsuit frenzy". The locomotive was placed in the park in 1959, through the efforts of the late John J. Mueller who moved to Paragould in 1949 to establish a newpaper and publishing plant. He later served as postmaster in Paragould from 1953 to June of 1970. Through his experiences here, he learned of the town's history and felt that the town should honor it's founding with a monument of a real steam locomotive. He had the support and backing of the citizens of Paragould, many of which were former railroad men. This also seemed fitting since Paragould derives it's name from two prominent railroad men of the early days of railroading, John Paramore and Jay Gould. The naming of the town and the arguments between the two men is the topic for a whole new story which can be read on this page . Paragould is a great town with a wonderful railroading heritage. It had been a dream of the dedicated railroad buffs of Paragould to find a steam locomotive and use it as a showpiece for Paragould to remind future citizens and visitors of Paragould's origin and past as a great railroad center, when dozens of monstrous steam locomotives rumbled their way through Paragould every day for (then) the past 50 years. #300 is a small locomotive in comparison to some of the monstrous steamers that rumbled and whistled their way through town in the past. It is a Mogul (2-6-0 wheel arrangement) weighing in at around 88,000 lbs. The locomotive had been in service on the Augusta Railroad, which was famous as "The Dummy Line, The World's Shortest Railroad". The Augusta was organized by Augusta businessmen when Jay Gould's, Iron Mountain Railroad bypassed the town and refused to run a branch to it. In an ironic twist, when the locomotive was removed from the park in Paragould, it was donated to the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad in Jackson, Missouri. I once read that #300 never actually made it to Virginia to run on the Virginia Central Railroad (VCRR). #300 was built for stock at the Cooks Works and was bought by the VCRR, but later fell upon hard times. The Arkansas Railroad purchased the locomotive from the Cooks Works and VCRR before being shipped, and therefore received it direct from Alco. I've not been able to confirm this beyond reasonable doubt, so don't take this as being absolute fact. Furthermore, I've not been able to find this information again since reading it. Could it have been a dream? -- Backtracking through history... -- In the mid 1880's, the St. LIM&S was eagerly laying rails from the west bank of the Mississippi River opposite the port of Memphis, Tennessee. Heading toward Bald Knob, the survey crews soon met the fast flowing waters of the White River. Sitting on the eastern bank of the river was the little town of Augusta. The chief engineer for the Iron Mountain crew rode his horse a couple of miles into town. After a brief look around and after making a few inquiries, he asked for an interview with the city fathers. He told them of the many advantages of having the rails of the Iron Mountain cross the White River at the town of Augusta. The gentlemen listened and took his words under advisement. They would study the proposition and discuss it with the townspeople and let him know their decision in a couple of days. Upon his return, the chief engineer was informed that the citizens of Augusta could see no real advantage of having the railroad bisecting their town. When a railroad entered town it carried with it a certain amount of undesirable people that would be a source of annoyance and trouble. The great hustle and bustle of the railroad would tend to disturb, and perhaps destroy, the pleasant tranquility of the town. Any good that the railroad could bring would surely be out weighed by the negative aspects of the line. Any import or export of goods could be handled by boats and barges traveling along the White River. In reality, the White River was only navagable for several miles upstream, and this was only when there was enough water in the river to float a barge. The chief engineer was very disappointed to learn of their decision, for most towns were eager to have the rails layed through their corporate limits. This would provide a connection to the outside world. This situated them on an artery of commerce, and prosperity was almost guaranteed. Most towns were so excited about such a proposition that they donated land for right-of-ways for the depot and yards. The chief engineer kicked the dust from his boots, exclaimed that he wanted to take no part of Augusta with him back to the civilized world, mounted his horse and rode off. Crossing the White River could easily be done elsewhere. The crossing was made approximately a mile south of town and the rails extended westward while Augusta was left sitting on the riverbank. The rejection of the railroad by the townspeople of Augusta might seem a bit unusual, but this was not terribly uncommon during that period of time. There have been several towns throughout history that held the same feelings toward the railroads. Davidsonville, also located on the White River, was one such town. Sometimes a town's objections to the railroads were to protect local interests (e.g., river traffic) while others did this in protest of the railroad's sometimes unpopular tactics in the past, or of the demands and expectations put forth by the railroads when placing rails through a region. Railroad companies carried a great deal of power and some were not opposed to "strong arming" in order to get their way. Traffic on the railroad outside of Augusta flourished, while traffic on the White River declined greatly. At the time, there were no wagon roads in the area. All of this soon became painfully apparent to the citizens of Augusta. A committee of citizens made a trip to St. Louis to meet with the Iron Mountain and to confess that they had made a terrible mistake. This plea was made in vain. Mr. Jackson, chief engineer of the railroad, said that if the townspeople of Augusta had treated him to an elaborate banquet, he could have diverted the rails through their town. Instead, he said, Augustans treated him as if he were "a nobody", and that they "had paid no attention to him at all", and he had delivered his revenge. The committee returned home to tell of their experience, and that they must have a connection to the railroad if the town were to survive. The citizens of Augusta, in 1887, banned together and built a mile long spur to connect with the Iron Mountain line. Their line was called the "Augusta Tramway & Transfer Company". It was originally a line that had only one "engine". It could be described as an "0-4-0 hayburner", but a more accurate description would be a horse or mule drawn railcar . The passenger car itself was a very attractive standard gauge street car. The street car had travelled the streets of St. Louis for many years and was of great pride to the citizens of Augusta. To make this pride evident, the car was painted a bright Canary-Yellow on it's exterior, while the interior received a nice coat of varnish. For passenger amenities, long wooden seats were placed along each side wall, each having received nicely upholstered backs. The freight cars were not nearly so cared for, and were actually nothing more than boxes on four wheels. On rainy days the tram did not run because the mule would become marred down in the mud of the unballasted trackage. Regardless of the drawbacks, this setup allowed the AT&T to be profitable enough to buy an 0-4-0T Porter "iron horse" in 1900 from a plantation in Alabama. They soon bought a 0-4-4T Forney type with an enclosed cab, and soon added another 0-4-4T Forney . The latter photo is of the Forney featured in the film short mentioned later on this page. Even as early as the mule drawn days, traffic on the little mule drawn railroad flourished. New Augusta was established as the southern terminal point where the railroad met the Iron Mountain main line. By 1903, the beautiful little Canary-Yellow street car had become too small to handle the traffic that the tramway was receiving. A larger coach was located nearby on the Searcy & West Point Railroad. The purchase was made in 1904 and the little mule drawn street car was removed from service and sat for many years in the yard of J.G. Landers, one of the citizens of Augusta. The railroad also used a small gasoline powered motorcar to meet night trains. This service was discontinued when a conductor struck a match one night while trying to find a gasoline leak. After this event a horse-drawn bus was operated at night until passenger service was terminated about the time of World War I. The new passenger coach could seat 10 passengers comfortably and the fare was set at 15 cents for the one mile ride. I'm sure this little railroad provided several people's first experience riding the rails. It was reported that in 1897, a 16 percent dividend was paid, and twenty-two stockholders shared the benefits of $20,000 worth of capital stock. The tram line continued to serve the community well, and business was good all through World War I. It was reportedthat on one night in 1916, $100,000 worth of cotton made it's way across the tram line's rails. The delivery of cotton was made at night because of the increased humidity of the night air. This helped in the prevention of a spark from the locomotive possibly setting fire to the cotton. On December 4, 1917 the little railroad fell upon hard times and the AT&T was offered to the highest bidder at the Woodruff County Courthouse. The franchise and assets were sold for $30,000 to the newly formed Augusta Railroad. The Augusta Railroad was incorporated on April 4, 1918, by eleven men of the community. This group of investors was comprised of J.C. McDonald, R.H. Winfield, F.H. Kittrel, T.J. Stacey, H.P. Dale, T.E. Bonner, E.G. Thompson, W.N. Gregory, J.H. Dale, C.L. Adamson, and R.T. Harville. During this period of time, the rails extended from the intersection of Locust Street and Front Street, went east through town, and then turned and headed south toward the depot at New Augusta at the junction with the Missouri Pacific. By 1917, the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern had merged with Missouri Pacific.
-- Here, Augusta Railroad's history takes a big jump. --
-- Please help me fill the blanks. --
In the 1940's a local artist was commissioned to letter one of the Forney locomotives to send a message of the Augusta being the "World's Shortest Railroad". In a slight mixup he lettered it to proclaim it the "World's Smallest Railroad". I've never been able to establish the date in which the Augusta Railroad purchased the Alco locomotive that is the subject of this page, but I'm suspecting this to be near that time. If you can help me verify this, it would be a tremedous help. E.T. King, general freight agent and traffic manager, stated that the locomotive (unclear which locomotive) was only fired 3 times during the month of March 1958. This was due to the decline of cotton being shipped by rail. On the Augusta, the shipment had dropped from 7,600 bales in 1952 to 1,114 bales in 1957. Shippers had started to prefer shipping by truck instead of by rail. The last two employees were documented as A.W. "Ace" Taylor, the engineer since 1949, and Paul Thomas, a part time fireman and brakeman. The railroad proved to be a profitable enterprise, especially during the World Wars, but as business declined, the Augusta Railroad applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) for permission to abandon service in 1958. The Augusta Railway had steamed it's way into history, leaving little more that rust streaks across the country side. #300 and the other two diesel locomotives were put in storage with the date that #300 made her last run not being documented. To the best of my research this information is not available. Terribly sad, since thise truly was the last run that #300 would ever make. But, if anyone has any information about the last run, or know how I can obtain proper information concerning the event, please help us fill this great void. -- The search for a Paragould locomotive -- After many months of searching and inquiry, Mr. John J. Mueller heard of a locomotive near Augusta that might be available for purchase to be displayed in Paragould. One weekend he, his wife and his mother went to try to locate the locomotive. Once at Augusta Mr. Mueller started asking the townfolk and finally located the locomotive in a storage barn that was being used as a makeshift roundhouse about 3 miles from Augusta. Nobody could remember the last time the locomotive had been run. Peeking through a crack in the door they took turns gazing into the darkness at the dirty piece of abandoned equipment that was once a point of pride to the community. Mr. Mueller learned the name of the owner of the locomotive and upon finding him it was established that the locomotive could be purchased for $1500 before rigging and transport to Paragould. There it would be set in place as a (seemingly) permanent monument and reminder of Paragould's rich railroad heritage. He returned to Paragould and with the support of the late Mayor, Ike Willcockson and the late Cecil Mitchell, then President of the First National Bank, a loan was secured with a note signed by a group of interested citizens, mostly former railroad men. Among those who took on the obligation were Alfred Smith, E.D. Barnes, Albert Macon, Thomas L. Roe, R.L. Dortch, L.T. Adams, R.W. Smith, W.H. Smith, J.M. Sharp, C.L. Briggs, J.D. Kelley, and John J. Mueller. Shares of stock were sold in a mythical railroad under the name of "Children's Iron Mountain Railroad Incorporated", and stock certificates issued in 1959 as a memento to those who contributed to the fund to pay off the note. The stock certificates were printed by White Printing Co. in Paragould and depicted a faint photograph of #300. The stock entitled the owner to "free transportation and enjoyment of all services offered by said corporation without charge." Also issued were card size "passes" to those contributing to the project. On the face of the cards it stated, "good for between all stations until withdrawn" and further stipulated, "unless otherwise limited above and subject to conditions at Harmon Park." I have a photocopy of the bond issued to Mr. Mueller himself that was printed in a local historical paper but it does not allow the picture of the locomotive to be seen. I would really like to photograph one for my own personal use, as well as to share with others via this web page. If anyone has one of these stocks or pass cards, please drop me a note . With the assistance of Lyman Shrader, a Post Office employee and former Missouri Pacific roundhouse employee who was very knowledgeable about steam locomotives, Mr. Mueller went to Augusta to inspect the locomotive and figure out how to move the locomotive to Paragould. Preparing the engine for the move itself presented problems. Late in the summer of 1959, Mr. Shrader and Bill Morrison of Brookland, AR, an employee of Missouri Pacific made the first of several trips to Augusta to assess the job of moving the locomotive to Paragould. They first jacked the locomotive up while still inside the temporary roundhouse. This was done to inspect all the brasses to see if would be possible to move it. The brasses are part of the bearings of the locomotive and ride on the axles themselves. The first brass was pulled out by Mr. Morrison and was handed to Mr. Shrader and asked, "Did you ever see anything like that?" Mr. Shrader hadn't seen any brasses worn that badly on an engine that was expected to run because it was completely worn clean of babbit. They were "worn as slick as a mirror." said Mr. Shrader. Babbit was used as a bearing material and was poured in place. Without the babbit the locomotive seemingly could not be moved. In this picture you can plainly see that the bearing surfaces are worn so badly that they appear to have allowed the axles to wear into the bearing boxes themselves. It's not documented whether they re-poured the babbit or devised some other method to provide a bearing surface on the brasses. Judging from the picture, pouring new babbit was not the final answer. The men returned to Paragould that night to discover that Mr. Mueller had contacted the superintendent of the railroad at Little Rock to see about moving the locomotive coupled into one of their north bound freights. A new problem arose. If the locomotive was to be placed in the consist, it would have to have operable air brakes. Mr. Shrader contacted Chaulkey Hart, a retired air brake specialist living in Paragould. They returned to Augusta to see what could be done with the brakes. Due to the darkness inside the shed the locomotive was stored in, they could not verify the brakes condition. The locomotive would have to be moved outdoors. To allow the locomtive to move freely, the side rods were removed. They contacted the engineer of the Diesel locomotive that was still being used on the short line. He took the Diesel to the location of #300 and coupled up to it. With lots of straining, huffing and puffing, the Diesel could not budge #300. After backing off and giving a good bump a few times, #300 broke loose but was still very stiff. After four of five tries the locomotive was moved about ten or twelve feet. Still being very stiff, #300 was moved at a crawling pace to the station at Augusta. It took over an hour for the short trip. Once the locomotive was sitting on the spur, Mr. Hart inspected the brakes and found that the shoes were very badly worn. While Mr. Hart was furthering his inspection, Mr. Shrader walked over to the station where one of his friends, T.P. Mock, an engineer on the Memphis-Bald Knob local was just pulling into the station. Mr. Mock agreed to cut off from the train to connect his air supply to #300 to see if the brakes were operable. It was quickly discovered that the pipes had rusted out and no pressure could be held. Mr. Shrader said that at that moment he wanted to sit down and cry because it looked like #300 might never make the trip. The air brakes were just not going to work. To Mr. Mock it didn't appear to be a problem. He said, "We'll just tie it in behind the caboose- it can't go anywhere." It was agreed that they would pick up #300 the next morning. It was stipulated by Missouri Pacific that the locomotive would have to have an engineer ride in the cab while underway. Mr. Shrader's brother, Elzie Shrader was a former Mo Pac engineer and agreed to ride in the cab from Augusta to Paragould. #300 made it's way to Wynn where it was transferred to the Paragould freight coming north. Everything went without incident until they made it to Whitehall which is about 20 miles outside of Wynn, and about 40 miles from Paragould. A hot box developed on one of the tender wheels. A hot box is when a bearing gets hot. Sometimes hot enough to weld the axle to the bearing box. The train crew had about decided to uncouple from #300 and leave it sitting on the siding at Whitehall but Mr. Shrader was reasonably sure that if the locomotive were ever placed on the siding that it would never make it to Paragould. While a decision was being made by the train crew and Elzie Shrader, the brakeman on the train said that he thought he could make it run well enough to make it to Paragould. In disbelief, the crew decided to give the brakeman's idea a try. The brakeman had a one-gallon can of steam oil on the caboose. Steam oil is a specially formulated oil that has tallow in it which is a white fat rendered from either cattle or sheep and allows the oil to maintain it's lubricating properties in conjunction with steam, condensate, and heat. Being the late 1950's, steam operation was a practice now passed by in view of the "Diesel-ization" of railroads. Why a brakeman would have steam oil in his possession on that day is somewhat a mystery to me, but I'm glad he had it. The box was filled with the steam oil and the trip continued to Brookland where another minor problem developed. The exact problem at that point is unclear but it was corrected and #300 made it's way to Paragould. Once in Paragould, the Paragould and Southeastern local engineer transferred it to the Cotton Belt Railroad where it sat on a spur beside the Farmer's Co-Op for several days until it could be established how to make the move from the track to Harmon Park. In the meantime, the same crew on the PSE moved the locomotive into the yard at Wrapes Stave Mill , just South of town, where it remained for a week or more. Since learning this I've wondered why the locomotive was not moved onto the then abandoned Mo-Pac line running north to Knobel at the time. Harmon Park was less than 1 mile by rail from the Co-Op siding, and within a couple of blocks of Harmon Park. Wrapes Stave Mill is located several miles away from the site, and through a busy town. I'm sure there was a reason for the added distance of the journey but it was not documented. As a side note, Wrapes Stave Mill is located on Roundhouse Road, very near the location of the old Mo-Pac roundhouse where the Shrader brothers and Mr. Hart surely spent many hours. Here's a map that might help understand the move. Wrapes Stave Mill was located at the extreme bottom of the map on Roundhouse Road, and Harmon Park is located at the top. The red box designates the location of the concrete pad that #300 called home during it's years in Paragould. The concrete pad for the locomotive to rest upon was donated by Hickson Lumber Company, and the rails were donated by Missouri Pacific. Initially the request for the rails was denied but upon the nearing move to the park, the rails magically appeared. Transporting the locomotive to Harmon Park was touchy at best. The late Johnny Knight gave the use of his heavy equipment to dig a pit of sorts to place the lowboy trailers near the locomotive and tender so it could be loaded for the trip to the park. After the locomotive and tender was loaded, the pit would have to be filled and packed to it's original condition. An unnamed West Memphis rigging firm that just happened to be in Paragould for another job (I've been told that it was additional construction at the hospital, but this is unconfirmed), was contacted and told before hand that the job was a community project and there was not a promise of any pay for the job. The rigger agreed and the move began. The locomotive was placed on one lowbow trailer and the tender on another. Once at the park the tender was unloaded first. When the locomotive was first being unloaded one of the timbers broke and the locomotive tilted precariously. Mr. Shrader said that he knew that if the locomotive crashed onto it's side it might never be put back on rails. The locomotive was righted and the job was completed with the locomotive once again being mated to its tender. The riggers broke several large chains and cables during the move. The move would have cost $1500 to $1900 if it were not for the generosity of the rigger. Mr. Shrader asked Mr. Mueller if funds were available to reimburse the riggers for their broken equipment since it was done for free. Mr. Mitchell was contacted and $200 was given to the rigger for replacement of broken equipment. -- #300 was finally resting her wheels in Paragould -- After a year of negotiations and planning, #300 was finally resting her wheels in Paragould. This represented the efforts of hundreds of Paragould citizens. The contributions from the citizens were not sufficient to cover the full cost of the locomotive and the moving operation. Mr. Mitchell saw that the additional funds were made up by the First National Bank as a community contribution. Mr. Shrader had seat boxes and cushions that were donated by Cotton Belt Railroad at Pine Bluff for the project but it was feared that they would just be stolen or destroyed by vandals and was never placed there. Mr. Mueller and the others had finally seen their dream come true of a locomotive being displayed in Paragould. Everyone involved with the project was very proud of their accomplishment, and rightfully so. Mr. Mueller was a car collector and had pictures taken of at least one of his automobiles sitting near the locomotive. Two photographs that I've seen features not only the locomotive, but also Mr. Muellers Rolls Royce . One of those photographs has Mr. Mueller himself standing nearby . Knowing all of this makes the empty concrete pad at Harmon Park seem much more empty than just the visual impact. -- But the stay in Paragould is not to last -- That's correct. The locomotive is no longer displayed at Paragould which is ultimately a sad conclusion to this great story of community effort. Lack of attention and concern for the locomotive quickly put it in a severe state of deterioration. It has been reported that parts that would have taken several strong men to carry off, were pryed off and removed. Personally, I think that this is an exaggeration. My basis for this being that the bell , whistle (still in existence and operable!), head light , safety valves , lubricators, knobs, etc. remained intact on the locomotive for it's entire life in Paragould. I see no reason why someone would have gone to a great deal of work to take something when there were so many items that could have been easily taken, and of much more value. The locomotive was never properly cared for, even as early as the mid 1960's. It was only re-painted twice during it's stay in Paragould. One of those times was immediately after the move to Paragould, and then many years later when the Young Men's Service Club took interest. They cleaned up the area around the locomotive and made a serious improvement to the park. In it's later years in Paragould, it truly was looking bad. Once again, due more to neglect than vandalism. I can honestly never remember a single time that the locomotive or tender had any graffiti prominently marked anywhere. The locomotive was never covered with a roof and sat in the open elements for all those years, and for the most part it was never fenced. During it's last years in Paragould, there was a makeshift chain link fence placed around the area but it was so poorly cobbled together that it made the locomotive look much worse than it actually was. Our local newspaper called it an "unsightly hazard". There were several individuals and companies that had stepped forward to say that they wanted to cosmetically restore the engine but none ever followed through with their offer. Most without any effort ever being put into the project at all. I don't blame them really since none of them really understood the magnitude of undertaking such a project. If this would have taken place later in my life, I too may have been one of the people who wanted to take on the chore of restoration. There was a rather serious controversy over what should happen to the old locomotive. It belonged to the corporation that was formed for the purpose of obtaining it for the park, but some members of the Centennial Commission, in making plans for the restoration of Harmon Park, wished to scrap it. (As a side note, Harmon Park is once again in a state of neglect, and has never been properly cared for.) Others on the commission wished to restore it. Although improvements were made to the park, there was never any improvements made that would withstand the test of time, or allow passers by a glimpse into Paragould's history like the old locomotive would have. The locomotive, with nothing more than a roof, a properly applied coat of paint, and a protective fence, would have been a great asset to the park and the community, and would have once again become a center of attention and pride. Instead, we now have an empty concrete pad. This bothers me not only from the standpoint that a piece of railroad history has been neglected and allowed to deteriorate, but also that something that was once so important to our community and it's citizens has been allowed to be ignored, removed, and at one time with the possibility of ending up in a scrap yard. The locomotive was removed from the park in January 1988, in an undaunted, lack of public attention kind of way. It was loaded onto a lowboy truck and carted off. Honestly, at the time I also didn't have much interest in the old locomotive and agreed that something needed to be done about it's appearance. Even then, I would have preferred a coat of paint instead of removal. Many years later in my life, I became interested in steam powered equipment, locomotives, railroads, and anything to do with Paragould's rich heritage. I had asked in passing a few times if anyone knew what had happened to the old locomotive. Everyone had different stories. Several people said that it was supposed to be restored and make a return trip to Paragould under steam power. Some said that it was hauled off for scrap, and others said that it was in a private collection somewhere. When my interest became more deep seeded, I started a search to try to find either the old locomotive, or at least what had become of it. What ever it's fate was, I had to know. I've ran into several obstacles while searching for the old engine. It seems that there were too many conflicting stories, lack of information, and misinformation. Nobody that I spoke to at the Paragould Chamber of Commerce knew anything about it since it was so long ago. I even had one person from the Chamber say, "Hmm, I never knew that there was a locomotive displayed here." -- The locomotive is found! -- I finally confirmed it's current location in a strange kind of way and was planning to make a trip to see it sometime soon. I discovered the web page of D.F. Barnhart , a railroad liquidation sales company, and was scrolling down through the steam locomotive listings with the only intent being that I was liable to see something out of the ordinary. Indeed! I was shocked when I came across the old locomotive. I knew instantly that I had found it since it was a Mogul (2-6-0 wheel configuration) and actually said that it was #300 from the Augusta Railroad. The asking price was $28,000, which doesn't sound like a bad price for such a wonderful piece of history. Best part was, it was at the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , a tourist railroad located in Jackson, MO. Luckily, Jackson isn't too far away from where I live. A day trip to see the locomotive would be an easy one. I checked the D.F. Barnhart web page around the middle of August 2001 and found that it was no longer listed. I was afraid that the engine had sold and would soon be removed from the location that I had only recently discovered to be it's current location. It was far too long a search to let it slip past without at least picture or two. (or 72! -grin- ) My family and I planned a trip to an amusement park on 8-18-01 for our kids before school started. I decided to take a side trip to Jackson to the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad. This was where I had finally narrowed down as being the locomotive's home. I didn't take too long to locate the old engine once we were in Jackson since I knew where the St LIM&S station was located. The locomotive was on a RIP track (that stands for Repair In Place, but could have easily been Rest In Peace in this case) just a few blocks north of the station. I was very excited about finding it and took LOTS of pictures, notes, dimensions, etc.. When I found it the smokebox door was missing, the air compressor, whistle, and many other parts removed. Later, I discovered that the whistle , compressor and other in-cab fixtures was being used to keep Shelby Brown , a Porter locomotive, operable. All of the fire tubes in the boiler had been removed, along with all the asbestos boiler lagging and the boiler wrapper. However, the bell and boiler relief valves were still in place. There was about 8 years of unprotected weathering on the sandblasted and painted locomotive in this picture . Later, we went back to the StLIM&S station to take a few pictures and measurements of the tender that once accompanied the locomotive. The trucks (wheel assemblies) had been removed from the tender and the tender shell was sitting out on the ground behind the station . This picture shows the rear of the tender with 300 on it, and here's a better picture of the side . I wish I could have taken a picture with the locomotive and tender coupled together, but it wasn't to be. The StLIM&S has another steam locomotive that is operated on weekends during warm weather months. It's a Porter, lettered for the St LIM&S as #5, and is named the Shelby Brown for the person who implemented the locomotive's purchase by them. I was taking pictures of the Porter and my wife and kids decided to go explore the gift shop. I had already gone past my allotted time to spend playing "railfan" by well over an hour. This put my total time spent in Jackson at about an hour and 45 minutes, and I told them I'd spend 30 minutes. Oops. My wife and kids are far more forgiving of my hobbies and interests than I've ever expected them to be. While they were talking to the lady that operates the gift shop, who is apparently very much an important part of the operation, they learned that the engine had in fact been sold recently and was to be rigged for moving the next week. (week of 8-20-01) My wife told her that we had played on the old locomotive when we were kids and the lady instantly said, "Oh, you're from Paragould!" THIS is the person that I should have been talking to all along. It would have saved a lot of searching and speculation. She said that the locomotive had been in their possession since it left Paragould. NOW, I find that out! She was very knowledgeable about the operations and equipment of the StLIM&S. She took me into an old caboose that was prepared into a small museum where she showed me the brass plate that was originally on the smokebox door of #300. I took a couple of pictures when another volunteer came up and was also very knowledgeable of #300. I asked him about the whistle since the bell was still on the old locomotive (but was badly cracked in several spots and had small pieces missing), and the relief valves were in place. He informed me that the dome top 3-chime whistle on the Porter (on the right side of the steam dome in this picture) was from #300. I was VERY glad to hear of this and will be back on a "steam day" to record the whistle for my archives. He said that it is by far the more favorite of the two whistles on #5 amongst the volunteer engineers. Knowing a little about steam whistles, this didn't surprise me. I can hardly wait to hear them blow! Andrew Dean, a volunteer at StLIM&S, recently confirmed that the whistle from #300 is a Lunkenheimer. Until this information I had thought it to be a Powell of similar design. The other one on the Porter's steam dome is a 3-chime steptop from Illinois Central which is a classic design itself. Mr. Dean also confirmed that the whistle from #300 is the one most used on their #5 Porter. As he put it, "We use it most of the time, except for in the big intersection in Jackson. That's where the big Illinois Central whistle comes into play. It definitely wakes up the motorists!" I'll bet it does! The locomotive was acquired by Michigan developer Robert Grooters for a reported $25,000. It was purchased to act as an ornament for the "Union Station Industrial Park" at northbound US-131 and Hynes Avenue S.W. , south of downtown Grand Rapids. The engine and tender was moved by Jeff DuPilka of West Shore Services. West Shore is a moving and rigging company that has relocated several other large pieces of railroad equipment by road, including the 90-foot Pere Marquette turntable from New Buffalo, Michigan for The Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, inc. at Owosso, Michigan. The locomotive was reportedly taken to Allendale, Michigan for the cosmetic work where it was "restored to resemble the one that leads a train at Walt Disney World." Looking at the picture provided by Mr. Southworth , I'd have to say that the Grooters firm has accomplished their goal. Personally, I would have loved to have seen it restored to a more realistic appearance to maintain it's proper history, but at least it has received the attention long over due. I hope that I get to visit it there soon in it's newly restored condition. During the period of time of my trying to locate the locomotive in Michigan, I had been contacted by a gentleman from Michigan who thought that the locomotive was going to be restored to operable condition at the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation (MSTRP) in Owosso, MI. This is the same organization that rescued, restored, and currently operates former Perre Marquette Berkshire #1225. I found his information concerning #300 interesting, yet completely inconceivable. I saw first hand, the damage, neglect, and missing parts. A restoration to operable condition would be an ambitious feat on a grand scale. I contacted the MSTRP and found that they were not in any way overseeing, or being a part of the restoration efforts. Looking back, I wish more than ever that they had been allowed to oversee the project. Mr. Dennis Braid, Executive Director of MSTRP responded to say that it was reportedly in Mr. Grooters possesion at one of his storage facilities. Since I could not make a trip to Michigan to try to retrieve current information, I thought that I might have a long wait ahead to continue with my research. Mr. Braid was kind enough to call upon his resources to help confirm the locomotive's current status. Mr. Barney Southworth was kind enough to go to the Grooters property to locate locomotive #300 and it was soon discovered that the locomotive had indeed received the planned cosmetic restoration and was already on display. Personally, I was shocked to find that the plans had been followed through with and the work completed. Now I can hardly wait to go to Michigan to see it once again. Many, many thanks to Mr. Southworth and Mr. Braid for their help. I thought that when an old steam locomotive was restored and displayed , surely the news would make it to the internet. As it turns out, I'm apparently wrong. Hopefully as time goes by, there will be others who take an interest in this particular locomotive and help me continue this page. Thanks in advance for any and all pics and information that you can share with us .
-- Some comparisons, observations, and concerns --
While doing some research at the Greene County Library in Paragould, I discovered an old newspaper from 1983 that showed the locomotive while still in Harmon Park. Apparently, it was in these later days at the park that the smokebox door and headlight had been removed. I might have believed that these items had been stolen except for the fact that I saw first hand that the brass plate had survived. I'm suspecting that those items had been removed either by the parks commission or one of the groups prepairing to restore the locomotive. Upon my trip to Jackson, MO, the smokebox door was still missing. If you compare the picture at the park in Paragould , and this picture at the StLIM&S , you can judge for yourself whether the headlight is the original or not. To me, the later picture shows a smaller headlight than the original. Apparently the generator (directly behind the headlight) was added during it's days at the StLIM&S, or once again, perhaps removed during it's stay in Paragould. Evident from the addition of the generator and so much work and effort going into the locomotive by the StLIM&S volunteers, the group obviously had plans to display the locomotive. I'm not sure why the plan was dropped since it would have looked fine for display had it been properly cared for. This is a perpetual problem that seems to exist with old locomotives being displayed. Considering that the locomotive had sat unguarded and unprotected for so many years, I felt that we were very lucky that the brass plate had stayed in the proper hands, as had many other fixtures. I don't mean to sound as though I have ill feelings about how the locomotive was finally restored, but I do have many concerns. Having first hand knowledge of the locomotive, and being familiar with railroad practices during the years that #300 operated, it becomes painfully evident that maintaining proper historical accuracy was never a concern during the restoration. The paint scheme chosen, to the best of my knowledge, was never used on any locomotive outside of the miniature ones that Wal-Mart sells at Christmas time to run beneath the Christmas tree. The locomotive was a coal burner from birth, and maintains the proper tender. The stack (smokestack) was intact when I photographed it only days prior to it's being moved to Michigan, and it was in great condition. This is the same stack seen in the above "before restoration" photos. #300 never had a diamond stack (diamond shaped smokestack) but one was fashioned for display and can be seen in the "after" picture. I'm hoping that the existing stack was not abandoned of modified, and that the diamond portion is just a display piece that slips onto the existing stack. The generator and it's exhaust survived the restoration, but the exhaust is obviously aimed at the side of the diamond stack instead of the top of the exhaust as it should be. Even the most frugal of railroads would have spliced an extension into the exhaust pipe to bring it to proper position had they changed the generator, or the generator exhaust. There are technical reasons for the exhaust position. Looking further to the front, the original headlight was apparently scrapped in favor of an oil burning model. I've always liked that style headlight, but only when used on a locomotive originally having that style, and only when it doesn't replace the available original. Although I've not seen a side or front picture of the locomotive, I think I can distiguish that a front pilot (cow-catcher) was added in exchange for the original pilot beam. In short, the restorers were obviously not concerned with the history of the old girl, or railroad history in general. I'm guessing that they had never restored a locomotive before, or gave in to Mr. Grooter's demands for the appearance that he preferred. Since the new fixtures have been added in spite of the originals being available, they've created a lot of confusion for future generations. If I get further pictures of #300 in it's restored state, I'll be sure to add them. -- Augusta Railroad, #300 Stories, and Additional Information -- I was finally able to visit Augusta, Arkansas on May 24, 2003. This was during the annual Augusta Days festival. Read about my tracking the old railroad bed here . I've not been able to easily separate the history of #300, Augusta, Paragould, or any other place that #300 ever called home. In a final decision, I combined all the history that connects them all together, onto this single page. I hope it all fits together in a way that doesn't seem too terribly dismembered. Mr. Andrew Dean, a volunteer at the StLIM$S in Jackson, MO, once told me that the crew that moved #300 from Augusta to Paragould came to Jackson, MO to take an excursion at the StLIM&S. As the train rolled past #300 sitting in the brickyard, they just about fell over. I'll bet that was a real sight for them, although perhaps a sad one. They had accomplished what must have seemed a small miracle in getting the locmotive to Paragould, and then to see it forgotten about and passed along to the StLIM&S was surely emotional for them. Paragould owes these gentlemen an appology for letting their gift to the citizens of Paragould, ultimately become so neglected. Mr. Dean also confirmed that the original plan was to return #300 to operable condition. However, it was quickly discovered that the boiler was of lap seam construction (in itself being unable to pass inspection), and was in very poor condition. It would have required a complete boiler repalcement to ever pass inspection. I'm sure no estimate was ever obtained for the job since anyone "in the know" could attest that many tens of thousands of dollars can be expected for such a job. Then, much more money would be required to repair and replace items worn badly or removed. It does make me wonder if the plan persisted through the years since someone went through the trouble to remove all the boiler tubes.
Although StLIM&S Shelby Brown #5 has sat idle for the
past several years awaiting final repairs, it looked as though this might
finally be the summer that she runs. Recent heavy rains damaged trackage that
had been repaired and must be repaired once again to allow any excursion on the
StLIM&S line. This set back labor and funds, and might perhaps cause #5 to sit
for another year. Each year that a steam locomotive sits unoperated, the closer
it comes to becoming a thing of the past, or requiring additional repairs. The
StLIM&S operates on volunteer labor, and funds donated and taken in from
excursions and events. If you would like to donate (even the smallest
of contributions are deeply appreciated) to help keep steam opeartion alive, you
can send them at:
I was contacted by Mr. Larry Lunday who grew up in Augusta. He told me of a childhood friend and himself playing on the cotton bales at the cotton gin at the east end of Augusta. Although not #300, there were two Diesel locomotives (one of which is the Vulcan ) that took the bales down the "Dummy Line" to New Augusta, presumably to be loaded onto the mainline railroad. Occasionally the engineer would give the two friends a ride on the locomotive. That must have been some thrill for the youngsters! He also spoke of some of the rail being removed recently. A project by one of the local women made available a wooden plaque that had a spike and a brass nameplate stating that it was taken from the "Augusta Railroad 1887-1958", and a decorative brochure outlining the history of the railroad. Mr. Lunday and his father were kind enough to send me one of these plaques as a token of appreciation for providing my findings on this web page. My many thanks to them for this generous gift. Another thank you goes out to Mr. Lunday and his parents for informing me that Turner Classic Movies (TCM) occasionally airs a "film short" that contains footage of the little railroad line in Augusta. The time that I saw the program (January 24, 2002) I really didn't know what to expect beforehand, and was beginning to think that I had somehow missed it. Luckily that was not the case, but the segment speaking of the Augusta Railroad was truly not very long. Although, a "film short" of the "World's Shortest Railroad" does somehow seem fitting. The film short of the Augusta was within one of the old "Our Own United States". This particular short was titled, "Would You Believe?" I've seen several of the old news reel type segments over the years and have always thought them very interesting. They are a fantastic glimpse into times past. The segment makes only one mention of Augusta, but never mentions Arkansas or the exact name of the line that was filmed. However, they do mention that it has been in operation for 47 years (at the time of filming). This puts the date of filming at around 1932. If this date is anywhere near correct, the railroad had already been sold and renamed to be called "Augusta Railroad". The locomotive in the film short was one of the Forney locomotives mentioned earlier on this page. Apparently it was this particular Forney since it clearly shows a steam dome and two sand domes. The other Forney only shows a steam dome and a single sand dome. I personally wish it had shown #300, but since the Forneys had turned up during my research so many times, I was glad to have finally gotten to see one of them in operation. A real treat indeed! For those of you who have seen the film short, you may notice that the locomotive is not lettered. The lettering for the locomotive was done in the 1940's. This, too, corresponds to the dates that I've been able to determine and gives me comfort that the pieces of the puzzle that I have, actually do fit. I recently discovered, completely by accident, another video depicting some interesting railroad tid-bits. I borrowed a video from my local library that was released by the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) entitled, "Arkansas Remembered- A View From The Front Porch." It's the history of Arkansas as told by ordinary people. In "the good 'ole days", everyone's front porch was their own center of social life. At about 23:00 minutes into the video, I was caught off guard by a train whistle. During the segment concerning railroads, the historical value and significance of rails running across the Arkansas country-side was discusssed. Mr. Clifton E. (Gene) Hull, who is credited on my "Thanks" page for allowing me to use his research on my web page, spoke while several pictures scrolled across the screen. At 25:20 minutes into the video, the picture of the Augusta Railroad's Forney jumped out at me. I was enjoying what I had just seen when at about 26:05 came another picture from Augusta's past. This time showing the other Forney with the gentleman standing on the front footboard of the engine. It was great to see both of the Augusta Forneys on the video, but no mention of Augusta or the little short line were made. I was also a bit dispointed that the picture of #300 while owned by the Arkansas Central Railroad was not displayed. The video is available direct from AETN for $24.95, but the entire 40 minute video is available (as of March 2003, anyway) for viewing on-line. Simply go to aetn.org and click on "AETN Video Library", scroll down the list until you get to "Arkansas Remembered- A View From The Front Porch", and click the "GO" button. You will need RealPlayer installed and operable, and I strongly suggest that you view the video at either "Double Size" or "Full Screen." The quality is far less than the broadcast quality of the actual video, but it does let you see the show for free. Also worth mention to the local folks reading this; watch for a mule drawn street car picture at about 11:00 minutes into the video. Although it's not clear on the on-line version, this was car #2 of the Walnut Ridge & Hoxie trolley system. Walnut Ridge and Hoxie are conjoined towns only about 20 miles West of Paragould. Also watch for the Lafe depot at 24:55 minutes. This is the only time I've ever seen the depot during my research. Lafe is only about 10 miles north of Paragould, and was once a bustling town along the short Mo-Pac route running from Paragould, through Gainesville, Lafe, Hooker Switch, Stonewall, and finally on to Knobel. That information has nothing to do with #300 or Augusta, but it's great local history that deserves mention. The map link below shows a rail line running south in the same general spur location as The Augusta (running north) but had nothing to do with The Augusta Railroad. The "Power Plant Line" (for lack of better term) was built in the early to mid 60's to be used for the construction of the power plant which went on-line in 1967. Thanks to Mr. Edward Hyde, whose son is employeed by the power plant, for sharing the additional information. A map view of Augusta, Arkansas. The Augusta Railroad and the power plant line can be located by finding the Missouri Pacific Railroad running east and west in the image. The Augusta Railroad runs north from the MoPac mainline and the Power Plant line runs south. Many thanks to Mr. Edward Hyde for sharing the link, and the University of Texas for provided the space for the map to remain in the public archives. Here's a link with the map cropped for size and a RED box around The Augusta Railroad and a BLUE box around "The Power Plant Line". Interested in seeing a satellite view of the power plant line in Augusta, Arkansas? The railroad spur leading from the MoPac to the plant can be seen quite clearly. The picture will take a while to load on a dialup connection, but if you've read this far you obviously enjoy this sort of thing and it will be worth the wait. Heres another satellite view of Augusta, Arkansas , but this one shows more of the general area so you can start a "virtual exploration" of the area yourself. The Augusta Railroad has been gone far too long to show up in these photos, but there might be a few traces of it visible if you know what to look for. I have a few suspicions that a few of the bare areas are the old railroad bed. If anyone can verify areas that show up, please drop me a note . Once again, it loads slow on a dialup connection, but worth the wait for any shortline fan. (Folks, it just don't get any shorter than this!) Yet another satellite photo , only this one is from GlobeXPlorer and is of the general area. This photo was "borrowed" from the Mapquest web page while doing some research of the area. Mapquest is a great asset to the internet. The resolution of the pictures on this page has been reduced to provide acceptable quality and quick loading. If you need a higher resolution picture, drop me a note . -- So, why did I create this web page? -- This page is the compilation of my research, and a way to share my findings with anyone who cares to read about it. I hope that by my placing this information out on the web for everyone to read, at least this small portion of our nations history will survive. I sincerely hope that you've found something of interest within these pages. -- And many thanks goes out to... -- First, thank YOU for reading this. This research has been a labor of love, but knowing that someone else read it makes it much more rewarding. I wish to give credit and thanks to authors, photographers, and writers who have documented the history of old locomotives and other pieces of our nations history. Without their work a lot of valuable history would have just faded from everyone's memory. Please visit the page where I have listed some of the specific people I wish to thank , and why. Without any one of these people or groups, this page and the history of locomotive #300 would be incomplete. Thank You! If anyone reading this is in any way associated with #300, present or past, it's moving, it's new or past owners, or have old pictures of it, I would really love to hear from you. Even the smallest of details such as dates, names, and events helps. I would especially love to see pictures of it in operation while owned by the Augusta Railroad. Thanks! -- Want To Know About Updates To The Site? -- I send out an e-mail on occasion to inform of updates to the page to those interested. If you wish to receive a notification just drop me a note in the link below. I can assure that you will in no possible way EVER have your name, address, or e-mail sold for any reason. I do not place your e-mail adress on my web page in any way and the list will only be accessible from my PC. Since the web page has progressed into what it is today, most updates are quite minor. Only when these bits grow to a point worthy of mention, or a news worthy event happens to #300, will I send out an update notice. Still, the minor updates warrant a date change in the "Updated On" box at the top of this page. You can un-subscribe at any time, and can expect a prompt and respectful removal from the list on my part.
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