SPRINGDALE -- The train whistle blew two short toots, and a hardy "ca-bang" of car couplers stretching filled the air as the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad Excursion Train pulled out of Springdale at 11:15 a.m., June 5, heading to Winslow. On board were a group of Decatur school children and their teachers, many riding the train for the very first time.
The 80 students, eight teachers and two bus drivers were all part of the Decatur School District 2014 Summer program, under the direction of Jennifer Kinder, on a three-hour tour. The field trip marked the end of a week-long study of railroad history.
As the four passenger cars and one engine pulled onto the main line of the railroad, excitement began to build among the young passengers. They were going on a train ride!
The train made a short stop to realign the switches before beginning its journey back in time.
The Arkansas and Missouri Excursion Train operates a fleet of three coach cars, two first-class cars and a dining car (coming online June 9). The season starts in mid-March and ends with the Polar Express trains in December, with more than 20,000 visitors expected to ride the Excursion Train this year.
The Decatur group rode in two of the old coaches, Car 106 Mountain View built in 1929 and Car 105 Golden Age built in 1927. These cars were built at the height of railroad passenger service when the airline industry was still in its infancy. However, by the early '70s, passengers were taking to the skies, spelling the death of rail passenger service. Only Amtrak's limited service remains today.
These historic cars were relegated to the railroad boneyard until Arkansas and Missouri purchased them in the early 1990s. After their restoration, the two cars were pressed into service and continue to take passengers on a scenic tour from Springdale to Van Buren and Van Buren to Winslow three times a week.
For the students of the Decatur School District's summer program, the chance to ride a train would prove to be a memorable one.
Arkansas and Missouri show conductors Monty Scott and Mike Eckels (also this Westside Eagle Observer reporter) and conductor Virginia Scott treated the young riders to views from history, including the famed Winslow Tunnel and Trestle Number 1, both built in the late 1800s.
When asked how many of the students had ever ridden a train before, about two-thirds of the hands went up in each car.
"Now you can say you've been on a train," Scott exclaimed.
As the train was about to go through the Winslow Tunnel, the conductors turned out all the lights in each car. As the train entered darkness, the cars filled with the sounds of a haunted house as several of the young passengers provided haunting sound effects.
For about a minute the darkness of the 1,735 foot tunnel was filled with all sorts of strange noises. Then there was light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a train, our train.
As the train pulled onto Trestle Number 1, the mood of the car changed from a haunted train car to sounds of wonder and amazement as the beautiful Boston Mountains came into view. When the train backed into Winslow to do an end-around switch, the children had a second view of the wonders.
The students watched as the engine passed by the train cars on an adjacent track to swap ends for the return trip to Springdale.
As the train approached Fayetteville, the mood in the cars became more somber, with the students realizing their trip back into history would soon be over.
For students of the Decatur summer program, this trip into the past will be engraved in their memories. And if train service ends sometime in the near future, these young riders can tell their children, "I rode on a real passenger train in 2014."
General News on 06/11/2014