I've been fascinated by trains for most of my life. Especially the era of steam locomotives has fired my interest. Sometimes even today one hears trains being called choo-choo trains, especially when talking to children. The old steamers were true choo-choo trains, whereas today's locomotives are just growly diesels. For drama, nothing quite matches a fire-breathing behemoth pent up with steam, chugging across the land, sounding a warning at road crossings with that real haunting steam whistle, or clanging the bell while switching around the rail yard in town. The old steam engines almost seemed alive. It's no wonder that children's stories often give them personal names, like Thomas the Tank Engine. By the way, I think Thomas the Tank Engine still lives at Boone, Iowa, and you can go see him there.
When our kids were young, we often read the story of the "Little Engine That Could." I suppose I probably liked that story as well as they did, if not more. For one thing, it personalized the little engine, who was ready to put forth a heroic effort to get the train over the mountain after the regular engine broke down. The effort called for his very best, but with every Choo! Choo! he was saying, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" Everybody needs a little of that attitude, whether one is playing a challenging game, starting an ambitious enterprise, or solving a math problem in school. And when he had pulled the train over the crest of the mountain and was descending on the other side, you are really proud of him as with every Choo Choo Choo, he is breathing a sigh of relief and satisfaction, "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could!"
When the trains first came to our east Benton County area, the big industry needing them for transportation was the apple industry. At one time, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Benton County was the biggest producer of apples in the U.S. The apple industry led to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad coming through our area. We always called it the Frisco. Until the 1970s, the Frisco carried passengers and hauled just about everything on the tracks running from Aurora, Mo., to Fort Smith, Ark.
The Frisco led to the creation of a number of our towns, like Rogers in 1881, Garfield in about 1890, Brightwater, Avoca, and other towns up and down the line. Pea Ridge as a town had already been around for some 30 years when the railroad came through, and the tracks bypassed our town. But Pea Ridge in those days had ties with Avoca, and many a freight item destined for Pea Ridge was shipped to Avoca by train and hauled over to Pea Ridge by horse and wagon. Also, during the days of the Pea Ridge College, new students often came in by train to Avoca, and caught a mail hack to Pea Ridge to go to school. There is a story that when the Bank of Pea Ridge was setting up shop in 1911, the heavy bank safe was shipped by train to Avoca, and a local man was contracted to haul it to Pea Ridge. He had a fine Springfield wagon that he was sure would handle the job. But, as the story goes, by the time he got the 3,600-pound safe delivered, the wooden spokes were loosening in his wagon wheels, and the fine wagon was almost done in.
I have long had a special fascination with the M&NA Railroad (Missouri & North Arkansas) which used to run across Arkansas from Helena through Marianna and Wheatley, Brinkley and Cotton Plant, crossing the White River from McClelland to Georgetown, Kensett and Searcy, and north through Leslie, St. Joe, Pindall, Harrison, Green Forest, Urbanette, Grandview and Eureka Springs, intersecting with the Frisco at Seligman, Mo. Our family had times of living quite close to the old roadbed of the M&NA, at Wheatley, Searcy, Berryville, and Augusta. The M&NA was always a troubled line, never turning much profit, always having maintenance problems, washouts, track failures, derailments and delays. M&NA became short for "May Never Arrive!" The M&NA even inspired a book of funny railroad stories called, "Slow Train Across Arkansas." Many of the stories had to do with how slow the train was. One story had the train stopping because of a cow on the track. The crew drove the cow out of the way and chugged ahead. A couple of miles later they had to stop again for a cow on the track -- same cow! I well remember where the M&NA used to cross U.S. Hwy. 62 going into Green Forest, and the long stretch of track running through Alpena. The M&NA finally gave up and closed down in 1953.
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 01/28/2015