Exploring Arkansas - Ouachita Railroad Facilities in El Dorado


This past week I was granted special permission to photograph the Ouachita Railroad facilities in El Dorado, Arkansas. The Ouachita is small railroad that switches cars from a chemical plant south a town and exchanges them them with the Union Pacific. The railroad used to operate over former Rock Island Railroad trackage into northern Louisiana through the nearby town of Junction City. In fact the facilities that the Ouachita now occupy once belonged to the Rock Island.

Rock Island Railroad: Travel on the Rockets Paperback Book - $24.99 @ Amazon.com

For switching and moving cars the Ouachita uses a former Canadian National switcher number 1155 and a former Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad switcher number 15. 

The items that I found most interesting were the abandoned pieces of railroad equipment that were stored at the far end of the property that included for Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad switcher number 13, a former Burlington Norther switcher and former Illinois Central caboose number 199456. These units, with the exception of the caboose, appear to have been used for parts. 

I found it quite a coincidence that I had discovered a former Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad  2-6-0 steam locomotive in a park in Shreveport, Louisiana just a couple of weeks prior. 

Map:


Here are a few of my photos:
 













Check Out:

Abandoned Louisiana - Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad 2-6-0 Steam Locomotive in Shreveport 

The locomotive that I discovered has had a rather interesting history actually. This 2-6-0 Mogul type locomotive was built at the Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works in Patterson, New Jersey in 1907 for the Isthmian Canal Commission for use in building the Panama Canal and was given the number 278.  - READ MORE

Louisiana Through My Lens - The Decaying Fate of Illinois Central 0-6-0 Locomotive 333

Today I decided to venture back up the highway to Tioga to take another look at good old number 333. As you can imagine the state of the locomotive that was once fine example of Louisiana railroad history has become much worse. At least that is what I could deduce from what I could see through the vegetation. - READ MORE

Intrepid Volunteers Are Still Working On The Railroad in Central Louisiana

On this past Saturday a group of twenty-two such intrepid volunteers gathered in the cold and wet early hours to begin working on the remains of the Red River & Gulf Railroad. A railroad that had ceased operation long before any of them were born.  - READ MORE

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