The following images were taken by me during a trip to Hot Spring County, Arkansas in August 1996. The images are from the town/area of the county known as Butterfield. The trackage is Arkansas Midland, original Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific.
The Rock Island Hot Springs branch went from Malvern in Hot Spring County, to Mountain Pine in Garland County. It connected with the Missouri Pacific at Malvern, and at Benton.
Butterfield was once a depot.
The track crosses US 270 in front of the old Womble's Store
A siding ends at a road East of Butterfield. This trackage went on to just South of Benton to connect with the Missouri Pacific.
The now abandoned right of way, facing toward Benton.
East of Butterfield, looking toward Hot Springs
This next image shows a now abandoned right of way Northwest of Sterlington, Louisiana. This was former Missouri Pacific trackage. The line originally ran north to El Dorado, Arkansas to connect with the Rock Island, and south to Monroe, Louisiana to connect with the Missouri Pacific line to Pine Bluff, AR and Alexandria, LA. It connected with the Farmerville Branch, which ran from Farmerville to Litroe, Louisiana, and with a branch which ran from Felsenthal, AR to Bastrop, LA.
The Farmerville branch was abandoned around 1955.
The line from Felsenthal to Bastrop was abandoned in the early 1960's.
The line to El Dorado was abandoned to Felsenthal, AR about 1982. It survived ownership by the Union Pacific.
In 1989, Delta Southern leased the southern 12 miles of the line to Sterlington, and purchased the remaining trackage from Sterlington to Felsenthal. The line was doomed when business dried up in the early 1990's. Delta Southern abandoned the line from Felsenthal to Sterlington around 1994.
Here we have the swing bridge which once carried the Missouri Pacific over the Ouachita River toward El Dorado. This was abandoned by Delta Southern in 1994. Photo taken August 1999.
This image was taken in August 1999 where the line crossed Louisiana State Highway 2, west of Sterlington, Louisiana.
This next set of photos were taken in December 2000 at the former Dixie-Shreveport Road crossing of the Texas and Pacific Texarkana Branch.
The branch was abandoned from Texarkana to Hosston, Louisiana in 1965. However, the line stayed in business throughout the 1970's. In 1982/3, the Missouri Pacific abandoned the line from Hosston to near Grimmet Drive in Shreveport, however, the track remained in place until around 1985, when it was finally removed. The line was a victim of the early 80's "Oil Bust".
The first image is the view looking north toward the Interstate 220 bridge. The second is a view looking toward Shreveport. As you can see, the crossing's rails are still intact, even after nearly 20 years. Much of the roadbed north of Shreveport has disappeared. However, in some places, the railroad's presence is still visible even after the nearly two decades since its removal.
This next shot is the Kansas City Southern at Cotton Valley, Louisiana, looking north. This is the former Louisiana & Arkansas. From here, the line goes south to Minden, and did go to Winnfield, but much of this line south of Minden has been severed.
North of here, then line once ran to its terminus with the Missouri Pacific and Saint Louis-San Francisco at Hope, Arkansas. The line is abandoned from the Louisiana-Arkansas state line in Spring Hill, to just south of Hope, Arkansas.
