Page 20 - March April 2014

The Bauxite & Northern Railway Company (BXN)
The Bauxite & Northern Railway Company (BXN) was incor- porated in November 1906 and commenced operations in April 1907 for the purpose of constructing and operating a railroad from the town of Bauxite, Arkansas to a junction with the St Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. The line is 3 miles in length and uses 115 pound rail.
The BXN originally interchanged with the St Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, then the Rock Island (CRIP), followed by the Missouri Pacific, which was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Kenneth Williamson
Traffic consists of bauxite and alumina. Although the connection with the Rock Island is long gone, remnants of this railroad are still visible.
The BXN was originally a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) before being sold to RailAmerica in 2005. The current owners are Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
The motive power is currently two EMD MP15DC 1800 hp diesel locomotives built in 1974, bought new by ALCOA. They are housed in a two-stall engine house just outside the ALCOA plant. Former power was an ALCO RS3 diesel.
Above: BXN EMD MP1594, resplendent in its new Genesee & Wyoming Inc. colour scheme, sits outside the engine house at Bauxite.
Left: Bauxite & Northern Railway Company EMD MP1594 sits inside the railroad’s two-stall engine house at Bauxite, Arkansas.
Below left: BXN EMD MP15 returns empty cars so they can be picked up by UP
Below: Another view of MP1594 sitting in the yard at Bauxite. Note the air-conditioning unit on the cab roof
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