Ghosts of the Rails: The Abandoned Relics at Ouachita Railroad in Arkansas
Photos and Story by Ken Hulsey
This past week I was granted special permission to photograph the Ouachita Railroad facilities in El Dorado, Arkansas. The Ouachita is a small railroad that switches cars from a chemical plant south of town and exchanges them with the Union Pacific. The railroad used to operate over former Rock Island Railroad trackage into northern Louisiana through the nearby town of Junction City. In fact, the facilities that the Ouachita now occupy once belonged to the Rock Island.
For switching and moving cars, the Ouachita uses a former Canadian National switcher number 1155 and a former Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad switcher number 15.
The items that I found most interesting were the abandoned pieces of railroad equipment that were stored at the far end of the property, which included former Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad switcher number 13, a former Burlington Northern switcher, and a former Illinois Central caboose number 199456. These units, except for the caboose, appear to have been used for parts.
I found it quite a coincidence that I had discovered a former Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad 2-6-0 steam locomotive in a park in Shreveport, Louisiana just a couple of weeks prior.
Map:
Here are a few of my photos:
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