The 62 mile Shreveport Subdivision on the Cotton Belt was completed in 1888, extending from Lewisville to Shreveport, Louisiana, connecting most importantly with the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, later the Southern Pacific.

Timetable No. 10 in 1943 shows nine sidings of various lengths, based on shorter trains during the steam era. But as diesels doubled train lengths, in the 1950s the railroad established only two sidings on the Subdivision, at Bradley and Alden Bridge.

On March 16, 1974 the dispatcher had No. 255 set out 100 cars on the siding at Bradley, and continue toward Shreveport with only five cars. No. 255 held the main track at Alden Bridge and met First and Second 126, each with about 120 cars. First 126 made it through the siding but Second 126 encountered a broken rail and derailed, with his rear end blocking the main line. Second 126 was delayed some four hours and No. 255, with five cars, tied up on the hog law, on the main track at Alden Bridge. The Shreveport Subdivision was blocked.

PBHOT, bound for Shreveport, thence to Houston, was to have run as First 131, but had to be sidetracked at Stamps, Arkansas, where he was delayed some five hours.

It could have happened, according to Murphy’s Law, and it did!

S. T. Songer enjoyed a lifelong love of trains. His layout was featured in the June 30, 1988 issue of the Pine Bluff News. In the article written by Susan Margrave-Sissom, Mr. Songer noted "I guess my attraction for trains was just born in me. Most people who get stopped by a freight train want to cuss it. I think about the millions of dollars of goods passing by or the amount of contact those wheels have with the rails." It was his lifelong love of trains that led Songer to build a model railroad. In fact, he built several in the same spot in his home, tearing one down to replace it with another.

At one time the layout included a pond that Mr. Songer made by painting the color of water he desired and then applying layer upon layer of shining varnish to the color, which resulted in a realistic pool of "water" glimmering on the surface. Mrs. Songer recalls that a repairman once was in their home and was left alone in the room with the railroad. When they returned, the man jerked his hand away from the "water," grinned sheepishly and said, "It really does look like water, doesn’t it?"

With his backpack slung over his shoulders and his grip in hand … er … paw, Owney Montana set out to see the world the old fashioned way: by train. He’s been watching America go by as he rides with engineers and conductors all across the country.

And Monday morning, he came to Pine Bluff.

Owney, a gray, 12-inch high stuffed bulldog, began his journey at Riverview Elementary School at Great Falls, Montana, where he was sent on his way by Kelly Maki’s third grade class. The class was studying United States geography, Maki said, and since they all couldn’t travel around the country, they decided to send a representative. Owney was elected.

"We study geography big time in the third grade," said Maki, who took a class last summer on making social studies come to life. The Owney project has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams.

"I never expected it to be this wonderful," said Maki from the office at Riverview. "The railroad people have been just wonderful."

"The railroads are alive and well," she added. "The kids have been just amazed at the kindness of the workers."

In his backpack, Owney carries a notebook for journal entries, self-addressed post cards for people along the way to send to his friends back in Montana and several disposable cameras for people along the way to help Owney take pictures to document his whereabouts for the third graders.

"It’s opened up their world and their country for them," said Maki. "Sometimes we’ll go for a week or more without hearing anything," she said. "Then one day, out of the blue, we’ll get a big box of stuff."

One of those big boxes left Pine Bluff this week. Owney collected souvenirs of the city from Virginia Cloar at the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum, Steve Arrison of the Pine Bluff Convention Center and Byron Tate, editor of The Commercial.

Owney sent the gifts — a real railroad whistle, two mugs, a T-shirt, a tiny bale of cotton, postcards of Pine Bluff, pictures of the murals and lots more — home to his friends in Montana so they will know that he is thinking about them.

Owney, the strong, silent type, doesn’t have much to say about the trip, but he looks well fed and cared for. He appears to have gained about 20 pounds in pins, buttons and souvenirs on his travels, and Maki said that at one stop, clerks cleaned out his grip and sent what he had collected to his Montana family.

And the journal, which conductors, engineers and clerks have been writing in for him, is filled with tales of his adventures and the wonderful sights he’s seen.

"Nov. 15, 1995, 12:30 p.m. — I finally began my journey. I left Havre, Montana, with conductor Jim Chenoweth (the uncle of a child in Maki’s class) and engineer Pete Golden … we built a train from cars stored at the Shelby terminal. Jim says we are lucky because we have a caboose to ride in. Very few trains have cabooses any more, most have electronic devices at the rear of the train. It was pretty going through the mountains to Whitefish — we expect to be there about 4 p.m."

"Nov. 15, 1995, 5:20 p.m. — I am conductor Don Jones. Our engineer is Gary Stickel. We left Whitefish at 8:45, 92 cars, 7,154 tons, 6,150 feet long with three engines. It’s dark out, no moon, just our headlight to guide us. We will be up all night and into the morning hours. We are going through the Flathead tunnel, the second longest tunnel in the U.S. — 7½ miles long. Our run is 255 miles and takes us into Spokane, Washington, where we live.

It’s a real pretty trip in the daylight — mountain ranges, tall trees, rivers and lakes, eagles, bears, moose, turkeys, geese, ducks and deer."

"Nov. 17, 1995 — Wenatchee, Washington. Apple Capital of the World. Owney rode train 699 from Spokane, Washington to Wenatchee … it rained all night and Owney got wet. We put him by the heater in the engine to dry off and he slept most of the way. At Wentachee they grow apples — Owney ate three apples and went back to sleep."

Owney went back to Everett, Washington, after making his way through customs, then took a couple more trips in the Vancouver area, and headed south on the Southern Pacific to Salem, Oregon, and on to Albany, Oregon, then headed back to Vancouver in the caboose after the engineer checked the brakes. Owney, it seems, had a hard time getting out of the northwest comer of the country, traveling the same route in Washington state for several days.

"Nov. 24, 1995 — Owney growled at us when we got on the engine in Spokane, but right away he saw that we were friendly railroaders with a lot of food to eat. Man! The way he eats he’s liable to be a St. Bernard before he gets back to Great Falls …

We go north from Spokane to Sandpoint, Idaho, then take a right on the Montana Rail Link. It’s a long trip — about 285 miles — but through pretty country.

Oh! Oh! Owney is barking at some geese on the river. I think he wants to chase them but we won’t let him out."

"Nov. 24, 1995 — Missoula, Montana — Owney was asleep when he boarded our train. I believe he was a bit shaken from his last trip as the other train crew had trouble … We reassured Owney that he was safe as we’re working on fixing the train in Missoula. After two hours, we are on our way to Helena … In a few hours we will be crossing the Continental Divide."

Owney went on through Montana, with train conductors and engineers writing about the rivers, animals, geography and history of the area. "He will probably see more wildlife on this trip than most people see in a lifetime," said one entry in Owney’s journal.

Owney also got an education in working on the rails. "Owney and I went out into the Glendove Yard where I showed him how to switch cars and build up trains," said another entry by a switch foreman. "He can work with me any time."

On Nov. 26, Owney made it to Mandan, North Dakota. "Too bad this is a night trip," said the conductor in Owney’s journal. "Or Owney would get a good view of the Badlands in eastern Montana and western North Dakota."

Owney crossed Minnesota to Wisconsin and headed down the Mississippi River near to Savanna, Illinois, his journal said.

On Dec. 1, Owney went with a conductor to visit a third grade in Galesburg, Illinois. Owney’s class in Montana and the class in Illinois have since become pen pals.

The conductor took Owney back to the train, where they traveled to Knoxville, Illinois, and visited another third grade class. Owney made sure to tell his class in Montana what each class in Illinois was studying so they could compare notes.

"I am having a wonderful trip!" wrote Owney.

Owney went from Illinois to Brookfield, Missouri., to Kansas City and Fort Scott, Kansas where he had a layover to visit six other third grade classes in two different schools. He then headed to Tulsa and on to Teague, Texas, and Houston.

He spent Christmas with the family of a train conductor at Tulsa.

"We learned that Owney has been breaking company policy his whole trip, so we got him some safety glasses and ear plugs," said Forrest Ridgway, the engineer at Enid, Oklahoma.

He traveled to Amarillo, Texas and on to Clovis, New Mexico, then on to a station about 30 miles south of Albuquerque. He crossed into Arizona, then crossed the Colorado River into the California desert. The conductor of the California leg of the trip told Owney all about the farming region of the San Joaquin Valley.

Owney spent New Year’s Day with families in Victorville, California, and then headed east to Yuma, Arizona and on to El Paso.

"It’s a clear night with a full moon," wrote the engineer. "Owney can see a lot of the high desert tonight — cactus, sage and mesquite."

Owney headed from Tyler, Texas to Arkansas, where he arrived at Pine Bluff very early Monday morning and had a wonderful time visiting the city with Jackie McNeill, chief clerk at Southern Pacific. She said that she took him to McDonalds, where he had a hamburger and fries.

He was also sworn in as deputy of the Southern Pacific Police Department.

Owney left Pine Bluff Monday night on a train bound for Chicago. He will start his journey homeward on Feb. 1, after having seen much of his country and sharing the trip with a group of third graders who will never again see their country in exactly the same way.

"When Owney gets back home, he’ll be ready for a rest," said conductor R.D. Dow of Lahoma, Oklahoma, "Hope you all learn a lot from Owney’s trip and never forget the experiences he’s had." (Agnes Ross in The Pine Bluff Commercial Sunday, January 14, 1996)

It has been announced that the historic Delta Queen steamboat will journey up the Arkansas River again this year with stops planned for Pine Bluff. This is the third consecutive year the steam powered riverboat has scheduled cruises through Arkansas.

Last year Delta Queen passengers enjoyed visiting the Arkansas Railroad Museum during the stop at Pine Bluff. As an expression of appreciation for the hospitality shown to Delta Queen passengers by Arkansas Railroad Museum volunteers, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company of New Orleans recently made a substantial donation to the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society.

Dates and times for the 1996 Delta Queen visits are listed in the Calendar of Events. Volunteers will be needed again this year to host the Delta Queen visitors. Any help you can offer will be appreciated.

However, early in 1953, Harold J. McKenzie, who had become president of our railroad in 1951, officially announced at a gathering of all the personnel from the offices in the old Cotton Belt Building at St. Louis, that construction of a new and completely modern building to house the general offices of the Cotton Belt was indeed underway, that it would be completed sometime in 1954; that plans to occupy it were being made for sometime late that year; and that dedication of the new edifice would take place early in the spring of 1955.

In a move to alleviate employe economic concerns related to the prospective transfer of personnel and their families, Mr. McKenzie announced that the company would take steps to make the move as pleasant as possible for all who would follow their jobs; that the company would arrange that any employes who wished to visit and look over the Texas city would be provided paid time off from their assignments and transportation free of all expenses; and all who chose to transfer to the new headquarters location would be provided assistance in selling their homes in the Mound City and locating and buying new homes in Tyler. He gave positive assurance that no one would suffer loss as a result of the transfer.

Later in the spring of 1953, Director of Public Relations Paul M. Bunting announced that any employes of the general office forces at St. Louis and their families who desired, could sign up for one of several special excursion trains, complete with Pullman Sleeping Car, and diners, for an all-expense paid visit to the new headquarters city and the area around it. All of them would have a full week to tour the city, look at real estate in company with representatives of the three great Tyler banks of the time, Citizens National Bank, Peoples State Bank, and Tyler Bank and Trust Company; real estate representatives and builders; home finance institutions; Tyler Chamber of Commerce and local business and industry representatives who looked forward to their arrival. Indeed, all who accepted this opportunity were heartily welcomed by Tyler civic leaders; were dined and entertained in royal fashion by the Clearing House Association at the spacious Petroleum Club atop the old Citizens Bank Building; and by other civic groups at the exquisite Willow Book Country Club. Hosts were provided each visiting family who were taken to area historic communities such as Kilgore to visit Kilgore College and its famous Oil Museum; to Nacogdoches to visit its historic fort, various pioneer sites, and to tour the campus of Stephen F. Austin University; and to Commerce to visit that city’s college. Tyler itself boasted one of the nation’s top community colleges, Tyler Junior College.

Needless to say, the excursion trips which were under direction of Mr. Bunting assisted by his staff consisting of Assistant Director of Public Relations Ches Parsell, Public Relations Representative Lloyd W. Wilson, Photographer Bob Hegge, Secretary Johnny Woods, and myself, were a great success. Of the more than three hundred and their family members who were involved, virtually all chose to make the transfer and become Texans. The City of Tyler enjoyed a major real estate boom; the Tyler banks increased the number of their depositors; the Savings and Loan Companies extended a huge number of home loans; general retail and food stores enjoyed a healthy increase in sales; the city’s excellent medical community with two fine hospitals, enjoyed expansion; and the city’s many civic organizations and churches welcomed a surge in memberships.

The years have passed, it is 1996 and Tyler has grown into an important business, industrial, educational, and medical center. But, sadly, the importance of our dear old Cotton Belt Railroad has diminished greatly. That bright new Cotton Belt Building of 1955, which housed our railroad’s general offices into the 1980’s, now houses the offices of Smith County and its various department personnel. The railroad, once the most important industry of the city, has been merged into the vast Southern Pacific System Lines under management of Rio Grand Industries, with headquarters at San Francisco and Denver, Colorado. There still are a few operating department offices in the various existing facilities of the Tyler Cotton Belt switching yard.

Ah yes, when we were young we knew we weren’t but somehow thought we were forever. We could not imagine the world without our railroad and the place we filled in it. When that epic transfer of personnel was made from St. Louis to Tyler in 1954, no one dreamed that forty years later no railroad personnel would occupy that splendid edifice. Now that we are old, and looking back, we know that we too are destined to pass from the scene. That is history — and change is the name of it. But Shakespeare put it more eloquently:

I walked down to the station, Tom

I sat down at the key

Of that same old railroad, Tom

That hired and fired both you and me,

And few were left to greet me, Tom

And few were left to know,

Who pounded brass upon that pike

Some 40 years ago.

I memorized that poem over 40 years ago. Today there are no local railroad stations one can walk down to. Once they spread the length of the Cotton Belt, often less than seven miles apart.

Nothing was easy for the old-time railroad agent, and every day brought new problems. He needed to be a telegrapher, know all about train rules and regulations, Western Union tariffs, express tariffs, freight tariffs, both carload and less-than-carload, passenger tariffs and tickets, handling mail, express and baggage in addition to a hundred daily and monthly reports.

In my 25 years as an agent, every new agency greeted me with a stack of damage claims, and the bane of an agent’s existence, which resulted in reams of worthless correspondence. Damage claims, such as a steel plow thrown through a record player, damaged beyond repair. I had a $12,000 claim against a hopper car loaded with bulk clean rice, because a dead mouse was allegedly found in it. A box car loaded with 100 bales of compressed cotton, bound overseas to Sweden, caught fire while being switched in Pine Bluff yards. Every morning would bring a stack of mail to be answered.

So, tired of answering claim correspondence, I started the practice of personally inspecting the interior of every car spotted for loading, sweeping and cleaning and upgrading every car. In 25 years time I knocked in or pulled over a million PROTRUDING NAILS, wearing out several steel handled hammers. I must have used over 500 gallons of Mulehide roofing, patching holes in roofs and sides of box cars. Railroad equipment is subjected to very, very rough treatment. Officials wearing business suits and working in air conditioned offices will never know how hot it gets in a steel box car when the outside temperature is 100 degrees.

At DeWitt, Arkansas we used carload after carload of Waldorf cardboard panels, to replace missing side and end walls.

The Order of Telegraphers contract with the railroad specifically stated that we were not required to clean or condition railroad equipment. What I did, however, was very successful. For example, one day Trainmaster Ware dropped by the depot at Caruthersville, Missouri. He told me that there had been a claim of $100 or more against every box car loaded with bulk soybeans at Blytheville, Arkansas. And he added: "There have been no claims against the soybeans you handle."

During the fall, business at DeWitt was especially good, as we’d handle as high as 75 carloads in one day, counting both inbound and outbound on the Gillett Branch, which we handled. We were told repeatedly that the Gillett Branch was a "gold mine" for the railroad. With the rice mills operating day and night shifts, I’d often work until 2 a.m., and be back on duty at 7 a.m., being sure the rice mills had good equipment. I also worked on Sunday without pay. There was no logic in charging $1,000 in freight charges, and paying out $2,000 in damage claims, spending endless hours answering needless claim correspondence.

At DeWitt, I had my only clerical assistant, Joe Bryant, the best clerk any agent ever had. As soon as we’d finish our daily mountain of paperwork, we’d clean and inspect and upgrade equipment. One night about 10 p.m. we were checking car seals and a cut of outbound loads when we found a load with the door not closed. We put three railroad spikes in the door hasp and I hammered away with a sledge hammer. One of the spikes flew like a bullet just inches past Joe’s head. I still cringe as his narrow escape.

Mr. Frank Pitts, our very good friend, with the Railroad Commercial Department, told Joe and myself on one occasion: "You two men are saving the Cotton Belt $80,000 a year in claims alone."

I well remember the last day at DeWitt in June, 1973. With all that business the Trainmaster had said the railroad would have to keep at least one man on duty, but it was not to be. The last day was hectic, and very sad for Joe and myself.

But before we locked up the station for good, a group of railroad officials held a private meeting with rice mill representatives, assuring them of continued good service.

The group returned to the station and one Southern Pacific official turned to Joe and myself and said: "What on earth have you two men done to these people? The owner of the C&L Rice Mill had tears in his eyes when he told us he knew that the present situation was just too good to last. These people love you!"

So I closed and locked the door on the last Branch Line Agency on the Cotton Belt. It had been quite an experience, extending over 25 long and difficult years.

AB Valve — The operating device used on freight cars for charging, applying, and releasing the brakes. Also called a triple valve

Absolute Block — A length of track in which no train or engine is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train or engine.

Absolute Permissive Block (APB) — A designated section of track or tracks within which the movement of trains will be governed by block signals, whose indications supersede the superiority of trains. The block signals may be controlled manually or automatically.

Absolute Signal — A block or interlocking signal designated by an "A" market or the absence of a number plate.

Air Brake System — All of the devices and parts included in making an air brake for controlling the speed and stopping a locomotive or train. It is made up of the operating devices, the pipes, fittings and foundation brake gear.

Alley — A clear track in a switching yard.

Angle Cock — An appliance used for the purpose of opening or closing brake pipe on ends of cars, rear ends of tenders, and front ends of switch engines so equipped. Provision is made for supporting hose at proper angle.

Application — Consists of all of the operations from the time the brake pipe reduction is started until the brake is released.

Approach Signal — A signal that governs the approach to another signal.

Automatic Block Signal System (ABS) — A series of consecutive blocks governed by block signals, cab signals or both, actuated by a train, engine or by certain conditions affecting the use of a block.

Automatic Cab Signal System (ACS) — A system which provides for the automatic operation of the cab signals and cab warning whistle.

Automatic Train Stop System (ATS) — A system actuated by wayside inductors, so arranged that its operation will automatically result in the application of the brakes until the train has been brought to a stop.

Bad Order — A piece of rolling stock that needs repair.

Block — A length of track between consecutive block signals or from a block signal to the end of block system limits, governed by block signals, cab signals or both.

Block Occupancy Indicator — An indicator used to convey information regarding block occupancy.

Block Signal — A fixed signal at the entrance of a block to govern trains and engines entering and using that block.

Blue Flag — A blue flag or signal that is placed on a car or locomotive when workers are around or under it. When a car or locomotive is blue-flagged, then it must not be coupled to or moved in any manner. The only person allowed to remove a blue flag is the person who put it there in the first place.

Brake Beam — A cross-piece in the foundation brake gear for a pair of wheels to which the leverage delivers its force to be transmitted through the attached brake head and brake shoes to the tread of the wheels.

Brake Cylinder — A cast metal cylinder with a piston that is forced outward by compressed air in applying the brakes and returned by a release spring in releasing the brakes.

Brake Pipe — Commonly called a train line, it is the pipe, hose, connections, angle cocks, cut-out cocks, fittings, etc., connecting the locomotive and all cars from one end of the train to the other for the passage of air to charge and control the brakes.

Brake Rigging — A term commonly used instead of foundation brake gear.

Branch — A portion of a division designated by a timetable. Rules and instructions pertaining to subdivisions apply on branches.

Branch Line — A secondary line of a railroad, not the main line.

Bridge Line Haul Road — See overhead line haul road.

Cab Signal — A signal located in engineer’s compartment or cab, indicating a condition affecting the movement of a train or engine and used in conjunction with interlocking signals and in conjunction with or in lieu of block signals.

Caboose Valve — A rotary valve type of device providing means for making a controlled rate of brake pipe reduction for making a service or emergency application from the caboose.

Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) — A remotely controlled block signal system under which train movements are authorized by block signals whose indicators supersede the superiority of trains.

Clear Block — A block not occupied. Sometimes used to denote a clear signal indication.

CCOF — Container on flat car. Referred to in intermodal traffic.

Color Light Signal — A fixed signal in which the indications are given by the color of a light only.

Color-Position Light Signal — A fixed signal in which the indications are given by color and position of two or more lights.

Conductor — Brakeman with or without brains, displaying pencils.

Controlled Signal — An absolute signal, the aspect of which, is controlled by a control operator.

COT&S — Clean, Oil, Test & Stencil. Applies to air brake rework.

Covered Wagon — A nickname that is generally attached to EMD E and F units.

Crossing — A length of track that carries one track across another.

Crossover — A track connection between two adjacent tracks.

Current of Traffic — The movement of trains on a main track, in one direction, specified by the rules.

Dead Head — A railroad employee traveling on a pass.

Distant Signal — A fixed signal outside of a block system, used to govern the approach to a block signal, interlocking signal or switch point indicator. It will not convey information as to conditions affecting the use of the track between the distant signal and block signal, interlocking signal or switch point indicator to which approach is governed. It will be identified by a "D" marker.

Division — A portion of the railroad designated by timetable.

Drawbar Horsepower — The total horsepower of a locomotive less the amount of horsepower that it takes to move the locomotive itself, the balance being available to pull the load.

Double Slip Switch — Used only where space is limited, combines the functions of a crossing and turnouts to allow any one of four routings.

Double Track (DT) — Two main tracks, on one of which the current of traffic is in a specified direction, and on the other in the opposite direction.

Drill Track — A track connecting with the ladder track, over which locomotives and cars move back and forth in switching.

Dual Control Switch — A power-operated switch, also equipped for hand operation.

Dynamic Braking — A method of train braking where the kinetic energy from the train movement generates current at the locomotive traction motors, and is dissipated in a resistor grid on the locomotive.

Dynamite — Initiation of an emergency application.

Dynamiter — A term commonly given to a brake operating valve that goes into quick-action emergency when it should not. Also called a Kicker.

— TO BE CONTINUED —

I enjoy the newsletter a lot. I’ve noticed on days when it arrives in the mail that I have to drop everything and read it front to back. Lately I have been replaying the videos of the St. Louis Steam Celebration and of Arkansas Steam - the 819 video. My family doesn’t understand my interest. I suppose the feeling originates in the pride that I feel for having been associated with the can-do people who built and rebuilt those great machines and could railroad with the best. Also, reading the newsletter bucks up my spirit to hear that there are fine men and women who are carrying on in the spirit that I knew during that brief slice of time that included W.W.II.