Arkansas Railroad Museum

06/19/2026

When you are 4 years old, is anything better than watching a train set...

06/12/2026

Look what arrived at the museum this week... it runs...

06/11/2026

From College View Lodge —

“On 10 Jun 2026, College View Lodge raised Bro. Patrick Harper to the sublime degree of a Master Mason. WB Thomas Anderson conferred the degree as Worshipful Master, with WB Bruce Gubser as Senior Warden, WM Michael Frain as Junior Warden, WB Douglas Johnson as Treasurer, WB Curtis Wolbert as Secretary, Bro. Robert Ravndal as Chaplain, WB David Johnson as Senior Deacon, Bro. Jordan Anderson as Junior Deacon, Bro. Jacob Shade as Senior Steward, and Bro. Joel Barrett as Junior Steward.

WB Douglas Johnson asked the questions and WB Curtis Wolbert provided the answers for the 1st Section lecture. WB Thomas Anderson gave the 2nd Section lecture, and WB Ryland Nolan (Cotner Lodge No. 297) gave the 3rd Section lecture. WM Michael Frain issued the Charge. Congratulations to Bro. Patrick Harper!”

04/25/2026

Was there a railroader in your family? Last week in response to a post, we had a couple of people ask if we had any record of relatives who worked for the Cotton Belt. In our archives we have some personnel and payroll records, but they are far from complete… one great source are Seniority lists... All the unionized employees had a “seniority date” and the man with the longest service with the company could bid on better positions. Every trade had its own list. The lists for shop workers are rare, but for train crew, the lists were printed annually in time books, where employees kept nots of hours worked, and in the case of engineers, which engine they were running (the heavier the engine the higher the pay).

Fred Burban asked if we had anything on “WB "Pappy" Robbins (my Step mother's Father) was an engineer on the 819 and Diesel Electric after that till they "Bad Ordered" him in the mid 50's. He always laughed that he out lived the Sawbones that Bad Ordered him.”

Here is a 1957 time book that shows that he was No 61 on the engineer’s seniority list, with a seniority date (the day he became an engineer) of June 25, 1941.

04/20/2026

Another photo from last Friday's school field trip, from the England School District... 819 and friends

04/18/2026

We have been spending time, organizing the records for locomotive 819. This is the official Arkansas railroad locomotive. It was the last steam locomotive the Cotton Belt acquired. It was built in the Pine Bluff heavy machine shop, which is now its home, and our museum. We have the drawings used to build it. We have its Federal Railroad Administration files, allowing it to operate from 1986 to 1992... Here is the first page of its "form 4".

04/17/2026

We had a school from England (Arkansas) visit today... 60 children and almost 60 adults... this is why we all volunteer...

01/16/2026

Well! The holidays are over and it's time to get busy again. The last two days, volunteers have been prepping the new beam for installation and the wall that is stripped of old siding preparing it for new siding. Replace rotten wood, install window blocking, and remove any existing nails. Volunteers also prepared the opposite side of the caboose for window installation. A lot of the window frames will need sanding, repair, and paint before being installed. We are moving along, but still plenty to do.

12/28/2025

Help us continue our mission with an end-of-the-year donation!

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12/21/2025

A good start! Let's keep it rolling!

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