(Page 3 of 3 on Rock Island depots and trackage, here looking at what remains south of Little Rock)

BIDDLE YARD IN LITTLE ROCK:

Beginning in 1910, this was the nerve center for the Rock Island in Arkansas. Biddle Yard was where trains were broken apart or assembled and sent east, west or south. There were offices and shops here until the railroad was shut down in 1980. Now it's owned by Union Pacific and is little more than a staging yard heading into its large North Little Rock yard. The buildings that were here are long gone and many of the tracks have been removed. You can see what's left of it while driving on I-30 through the south side of Little Rock. That's the interstate bridge in the distance.

MALVERN ROUNDHOUSE:

This is the only railroad roundhouse still standing in Arkansas and in 2003 was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in the 1880's as part of the original narrow gauge Hot Springs Railroad, which would later be converted to standard gauge. You can tell from two of the photos below where the turntable was once located that would spin steam locomotives to different tracks within the structure. The railroad would later become part of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf, which would eventually be absorbed by the Rock Island. The building is now used by a local company to store insulation materials, but hopefully it will eventually serve a purpose reflecting its historic past. You can read much more about the Roundhouse on a great web site, including photos of the inside of the building. It's located near the old Missouri Pacific depot, now used by Amtrak, and alongside what is now Union Pacific's mainline through Malvern. It's also here, as a sign in the final photo shows, that the Hot Springs branch began. The old Rock Island track is now used by the Arkansas Midland Railroad.

NEAR POYEN:

Poyen is a small town located to the southeast of Malvern. The old Rock Island track was taken up in the 1980's, but it's still very clear where the rails once ran. The track ran alongside Highway 270 for a stretch, from where you can see an old railroad trestle just outside of town that seems to be collapsing in spots. The old right of way now looks like a trail.

FORDYCE DEPOT:

A small part of the old Rock Island tracks are now used by the shortline Fordyce and Princeton Railroad, which also uses the old Fordyce depot, circa 1925, as an office. As you can see, it's a beautifully maintained building that doesn't look like it ever fell into disrepair. The old semaphore signals are still there and in great shape. Inside, the original ticket counter with a glass divider remains. You can also see the controls for the track switches. The track branching off to the left in this photo connects with the Union Pacific mainline here, which crosses the old Rock Island track just a few hundred feet away from the depot. Also the engine featured here, F&P 1504, is an old Rock Island switcher that used to be numbered 941.