Page 25 - NMRA Roundhouse November-December 2019

In 1947, they purchased a 20-ton Plym- outh diesel-mechanical.This was the last engine purchased new by BWL Co.
From then on, they purchased various second-hand diesel locomotives from Plymouth,Vulcan,Whitcomb and GE. They had two GE 25-ton engines on
the roster that they purchased used in 1972. It seemed they had a lot of trouble with these GE 25-ton diesels, but the issues were solved because they had one running until the end of narrow gauge operations in 2000.The other was being used for parts to keep the other one running.These engines served the com- pany longer than any of the others. Their last engine was a 50-ton GE steel mill engine.This engine was built for the U.S. Steel National Tube Works opera- tions and later bought by Arkansas Lime Company in 1990. It was the last narrow gauge engine they bought.
When you consider that this was a 2.5 mile railroad that is a lot of motive pow- er to have on and off their rails.
Rolling Stock
This is a railroad that never owned anything but side dump cars.There were beside the common designs some interesting unique 4-wheel dump car designs.They had them in various sizes and shapes over the years.
They were all steel construction and dump to only one side. Since the Ar- kansas Lime Company had no turning facilities this wasn’t an issue.
These cars were designed to self-dump using a special dumping mechanism.You notice that there is a roller at the middle
of each car.When they reach the dump site a semi V shaped frame was raised and as the cars passed this frame the roller rode up the frame. Now as the roll- er rode up the frame because of linkage on the end of the car the door opened releas- ing the load. Once it cleared the high point of the frame and the roller rode back down, the door would close. This was done until each car passed the dump site and the train was empty.
4-wheel steel side dump cars photo by Bill Davis
Cars being dumped from an article in Railfan and Railroads 2001
The Tipple was used by the operation
till the end of the narrow gauge. It was fed by a conveyor system, which brought the limestone from the quarry. Originally, loading the cars was a manual operation, this was later converted to either a compressed air or a hydraulic system.
The railroad had five bridges to cross: Mill Creek, several cuts, a grade over 4.5% along its 2.5 mile run. Now the Mill Creek area of the Ozarks in Northern Arkansas is beautiful.This is especially true when all is green or in the colours of fall. In this valley is where the Arkan- sas Lime Company ran as it wandered through the trees, across the bridges between the quarry and processing plant.
I visited the Arkansas Lime Company
in 2004 after it was standard gauge. On the 2004 visit the remains of the narrow gauge was still in place at the quarry loading area. I was there again in the fall of 2005 and the remains were gone or in a pile of scrap except for this engine in the picture at left.There was a gentleman looking to buy it for a tourist railroad. I don’t know if he made a deal or not.
As far as I know the railroad is still running, at least it was when I moved
Photo by Bill Davis
out of Arkansas in 2009 sadly, without the romance and excitement of its glory days as one of the last narrow gauge quarry railroads.
In closing, let me share the adventure
of the Porter 0-4-0T in the city park
in Batesville. I knew it was in a park on display from the article in Slim Gauge News but that was in the 1970s. On my visit I was told that it was still on display in the park by the river so I went to see it. It was the saddest engine display I had ever seen.
Photo by Bill Davis
However, our sad story of the Porter in the park has a happy ending. In 2008 I was again in Batesville and went to see the Porter. Happily it had been restored to it former glory.
Bill Davis
December 2019 - ROUNDHOUSE 25