Thought I'd drive the 60 miles north to Bald Knob, Arkansas from Little Rock on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 and catch some trains and explore the hobby shop that's inside the 1915 Bald Knob Missouri Pacific Railroad depot.  The hobby shop is called Arkansas Traveler Hobbies and the station also hosts the White County Rail Heritage Museum. Also got shots of the two MoPac cabooses they have on the site (# 11018 and 13675) and the renovation of an old wooden Railway Post Office/Coach that was built by the St. Charles Car Company in 1894 for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad but eventually belonged to the Missouri & North Arkansas Railway. It was the last wooden  passenger car from the M&NA.

Bald Knob and the depot are on the main lines of Union Pacific on the Hoxie Sub, which runs from North Little Rock to Missouri. The Memphis Sub diverts east from the Hoxie Sub right in front of the depot, so you can see quite a few trains here. It's about an hour drive from Little Rock on US 67/167, a four-lane interstate quality highway.

I caught one of the MKT green hoppers, No. 509, passing the station, plus had locomotives from UP and NS.  It was a cold day but sunny, temperatures were in the 40s. Locomotives today: UP 6924, 7289, 6321-ex SP, 1929, 1765, 1763, 7476, 6226-ex SP, 7642 *** NS 2731




North side of the depot.


South side of the depot. UP's Main 1 is the nearest track, Main 2 the next one (the same Mains that are in front of Union Station in Little Rock), next track is a siding, which has a switch to the Memphis Sub which curves east.


Here are the two Missouri Pacific cabooses on the north side of the depot, numbers 11018 and 13675.


MoPac 11018.


11018.


No. 13675.


Information on the M&NA RPO/coach.




This wooden Railway Post Office/Coach was built by the St. Charles Car Company in 1894 for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad but eventually belonged to the Missouri & North Arkansas Railway. It was the last wooden  passenger car from the M&NA.












Some trains now. NS 2731 was passing when I arrived at 12:51 p.m. It  was on the QNLSF-25 (Priority Intermodal-N. Little Rock-Memphis)


This train was going to Memphis on the Memphis Sub.


Another train was waiting to go north at 12:58 p.m.


Engine move 1:03 p.m.


UP 6924, 7289 and 6321(former SP), 1:03 p.m. Light power move ENLMEC-25 (Engines-N. Little Rock-Memphis-Coal) The power set picked up train CMSNA-23 (Coal-Memphis-N. Antelope Mine, WY) BNSF 5286 is leading the 3 UP engines on that coal empty, showing to setout at Van Buren, AR. 


Northbound led by UP 1929, 1:35 p.m. LWG55-26 Local that runs from NLR to North Bridge Jct. and returns.


UP 1929, 1:36 p.m.


MKT 509 green hopper.


DGNO 491 blue gondola.


Another northbound at 2:09 p.m.


UP 1765, 2:13 p.m. It was coming off another siding. MNLME-26 (Manifest-NLR-Memphis) It looks like it only made it as far as Bald Knob and then was on light engine move EBKNLE-26


UP 1765.


UP 1765 and 1763.


UP 1763. This train came to a screeching halt a few minutes after this picture when the EOT or ETD, the End of Train device which took the place of cabooses, broke and the train had to stop when that happens.  In this case, it stopped on the main line. The conductor had to walk back almost a mile to the end of the train and disconnect the EOT and physically carry it back to the locomotives. Well, we were listening to the scanner conversations about this problem, so Cathy Christiansen, wife of Arkansas Traveler Hobbies owner Craig Christiansen, took their van and drove to where the train had stopped and picked up the conductor so he wouldn't have to walk back to the front of the train. The EOT device is very heavy, so the conductor was very grateful.




UP 7476 and 6226 (former SP), 3:20 p.m. ZLDYC-25 (Premium Intermodal-Laredo-Yard Center, IL)


UP 7642.


Now for a look inside at some of the model train layouts.


Three model scales on this table: Top is the smallest Z scale, followed by N scale and then HO. The big O-scale layout is to my right.


Part of the O-scale.










Santa Fe 1302 in O-scale.










Looking at a previous train from inside the depot.




The realtime ATCS display, which shows blocks occupied by trains for the REAL railroad outside the depot. This is located inside the depot.

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