FL9

After switching from I40 to I30 in Little Rock, we made a pit stop at McDonald’s in Malvern, AR to refresh ourselves.  When we came out I could hear a nice K5LA horn close by, so we headed down to the UP mainline a few blocks away.  I was pleasantly surprised to see two GP35’s belonging to the Arkansas Midland Railroad delivering a cut of cars and several UP units on an interchange track next to the mainline.

The Arkansas Midland is part of the Pinsley family of shortlines that I photographed briefly in Florida this past January.  The units here look to be very well maintained, and their paint scheme is a winner as far as I’m concerned.

Once the interchange was tied down, the two units headed back west down another siding.

We caught up with them again a few blocks away as the crew switched on the wye off of the UP mainline that marks the beginning of the Hot Springs Branch served by the Arkansas Midland.

Tom Harst, the Manager of Operations stopped by to introduce himself and inquire about my interest in their operations, and we had a good visit while the power drilled cars into the small yard from the east leg of the wye.

As we headed on west out of town I decided this was an interesting operation I would have to visit again soon in greater depth.