Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 04/06/22

SUMMARY

Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad Steam Locomotive #360 is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion C for its engineering as a good example of a 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler type freight steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York.  The locomotive was a workhorse in service on the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad until more efficient diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives on the line c.1950.  It was then relocated to Queen Wilhelmina State Park in 1963 and has been a static display at the park ever since. 

Steam Locomotive #360 is also being nominated to the Arkansas Register with local significance under Criterion A for its associations with the transportation and lumber industries of Arkansas.  During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, steam locomotives provided the motive power to the trains used by the lumber industry, and locomotives like Texas, Oklahoma, and Eastern Steam Locomotive #360 were an important part of the transportation network for the state’s lumber industry.  Due to the fact that the locomotive is now located in a setting that is not near a railroad line, it is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.  However, it is still a significant locomotive and is eligible for listing in the Arkansas Register.

HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY

Although the first railroad line in the United States was laid in the late 1820s, very little railroad construction was completed in Arkansas prior to the Civil War.  The Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, which had laid some track westward from Hopefield and eastward from Little Rock, and the Mississippi, Ouachita, & Red River, which had laid a few miles of track inland from Chicot and Arkansas City, were the only railroads to complete any construction prior to 1860.[1]

The Civil War, however, delayed the building of railroads by a decade, and it was not until the 1870s that railroad building took off again.  The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern built a line south from St. Louis to the Arkansas border.  They wanted to go to Texas, and purchased the Cairo & Fulton.  Although the Cairo & Fulton had not done any construction, they had secured rights-of-way prior to the Civil War.  The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern reached Little Rock by 1872, and had completed the first line across Arkansas when it reached Texarkana in 1874.[2]

The second railroad line to reach across the state incorporated the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, and the newly constructed Little Rock & Fort Smith, which had reached the coal fields of Clarksville in 1874 and Fort Smith five years later.  The Little Rock & Fort Smith was purchased by Jay Gould (who already owned the Iron Mountain lines) in 1882, and became part of the Iron Mountain system – the largest railroad system in the state in the late nineteenth-century.[3]

When the realization came that only railroads could be used to exploit the vast tracts of virgin timber in Arkansas, railroads and the timber industry developed as one.  As a result, railroad lines were constructed further and further into the forests to enable the harvesting of timber, and occasionally the spurs were linked to become new through lines.  The boom in railroad construction also greatly influenced settlement patterns throughout Arkansas.  Some towns that had thrived on river trade and travel disappeared and many new towns sprang to life along the railroad lines.[4]

One of the railroads that helped to exploit the timber lands of Arkansas and Oklahoma was what would eventually come to be known as the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad.  The Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad was incorporated on October 21, 1910, and was the second railroad that was incorporated by Hans Dierks.  Dierks was one of four brothers – Henry, Herman, Hans, and Peter – who had come to De Queen after operating several lumber yards in Nebraska.  Hans had initially incorporated the De Queen & Eastern Railroad on September 22, 1900, and connected it to the Kansas City Southern Railroad so that the Dierks mill would have easy access to ship their lumber around the country.[5]

Although the initial Dierks land was in Arkansas, the brothers purchased additional tracts of lumber land in what would become southeast Oklahoma shortly after 1900.  The land that they purchased encompassed a half-million acres, but it was a smart buy since lumber was demanding premium prices in the Indian Territory.  The Dierks Brothers built a large mill at Bismarck, Indian Territory, now Wright City, Oklahoma, in 1910, and the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern (TO&E) was incorporated to service the new mill.[6]

The initial plan for the TO&E was to have it connect De Queen, Arkansas, with Valliant, Oklahoma, although the initial eight miles that were constructed connected Wright City’s mill with Valliant.  After the mill at De Queen burned, Dierks decided to build a mill at Dierks, which would have given the company three large mills, and it was decided to connect the TO&E with the De Queen and Eastern.  The lines of the two railroads eventually met at West Line on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border on January 5, 1921.[7]

From the very beginning, the TO&E and the De Queen & Eastern both showed net losses.  The deficit was caused by the railroads carrying passengers and mail, but once those services were dropped, in conjunction with the Dierks company opening a lumber-treating and preserving plant just west of  De Queen at Process City, the railroads finally became profitable.  The new plant at Process City, which treated utility poles, fence posts, barn poles, lumber, and railroad ties, produced an extra four hundred railroad cars of goods per month.[8]  Although the TO&E and the De Queen & Eastern were railroads that operated in the same area, they remained separate entities until 1996 when the TO&E was dissolved and then incorporated into the De Queen  & Eastern.[9]

Locomotive #360  is an example of a 4-6-0 “ten-wheeler” locomotive, which means that it has four leading wheels on two axles, six driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels.  Although the origin of the “ten-wheeler” locomotive’s design is not entirely clear, it is believed that the first 4-6-0 built was the Chesapeake, which was completed by the Norris Locomotive Works in March 1847 for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.  Credit for the 4-6-0 locomotive’s design is often given to Septimus Norris, but others believe that it was actually John Brandt of the Erie Railroad who came up with the design.  Regardless of the origin of the design, it became the second most popular locomotive type by the middle of the nineteenth century.[10]

The earliest 4-6-0 locomotives were built with small drive wheels and were meant to be used for freight service only.  However, by the 1850s, the ten-wheeler design was widely recognized by railroads as a good design for general service.  For example, both the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio railroads often used 4-6-0 locomotives for fast freight and heavy passenger trains.  The Erie Railroad was also a big believer in the design – although it wasn’t originally – and they had 28 4-6-0 locomotives on its roster by 1853.[11]

The ten-wheeler’s era of greatest popularity was the late nineteenth century when more railroads adopted the design for their heavier work.  Although the philosophy of many railroads at the beginning of the 1860s was to utilize a lot of general-service locomotives, which the 4-6-0 was well suited for, there was an increasing cadre of railroad officials who advocated for specialized locomotives for each type of service.  As a result, during the late nineteenth century, the 4-6-0 ten-wheeler was often used for passenger service, which was its most popular type of service until around 1910.  During the early twentieth century, the design was found to be too light for regular service, so it was often relegated to work on secondary or branch lines.[12]

Given the designed purpose of the 4-6-0 ten-wheeler, the locomotive was a sensible choice for the TO&E.  The TO&E was never a large-scale Class 1 railroad, so a smaller locomotive like the 4-6-0 that could be utilized for both passenger and freight service was an ideal choice that met the railroad’s varied needs.  It’s not known how many 4-6-0 locomotives the TO&E ultimately owned, but it is likely that the model comprised a good portion of the railroad’s locomotive roster in the early twentieth century.

The American Locomotive Company (Alco) was formed on June 24, 1901, when eight locomotive manufacturers merged under one corporate structure.  The companies that merged to create Alco included the Brooks Locomotive Works of Dunkirk, NY; The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Co. of Paterson, NJ; Dickson Manufacturing Company of Scranton, PA; Manchester Locomotive Works of Manchester, NH; Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works of Allegheny, PA; Rhode Island Locomotive Works of Providence, RI; Richmond Locomotive and Machine Works of Richmond, VA; and The Schenectady Locomotive Works of Schenectady, NY.  After the merger of the initial eight companies, Alco acquired the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal, Ltd., in Montreal, Quebec, in 1904, and changed its name to the Montreal Locomotive Works, Ltd., in 1908.  Alco also acquired the Rogers Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey, in 1905, bringing the total number of companies under Alco to ten.[13]

The formation of Alco was completed in order to decrease competition and increase profitability in the locomotive industry.  At the time that Alco was formed the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia was the dominant company in the manufacture of locomotives.  With the creation of Alco, however, it would allow for the phasing out of locomotive production at the smaller and less efficient facilities, and enable the efforts to be concentrated at the larger plants, and it would also allow Alco to be more competitive against Baldwin.[14]

When the ten companies merged to form Alco, the names of the previous companies were discontinued and the names were retained followed by “Works.”  For example, the Brooks Locomotive Works became “Brooks Works.”  By 1919 all of the smaller manufacturing plants were phased out, and the remaining plants were the Brooks, Cooke, Richmond, and Schenectady works.  (The Montreal works was also retained for production.  Also, although locomotive production was phased out at the Rhode Island Works in 1908, parts of the facility were used for the manufacture of automobiles and trucks under the Alco name from 1906 until 1913.)  The Cooke Works was generally the facility that manufactured smaller locomotives, while the facilities at Brooks, Richmond, Montreal, and Schenectady were used for the construction of larger locomotives.[15]

Alco continued to produce steam locomotives for the American market until 1948 when it completed order #S-2006, which was a group of seven 2-8-4 locomotives for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, which were completed in May and June of the year.  Production of steam locomotives for the Canadian market continued at the Montreal Locomotive Works until 1949 when order Q-415 was completed for six 2-10-4 locomotives for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  The final steam locomotives completed at the Montreal Locomotive Works were for six 4-8-4 locomotives that were built for the Sorocabana Railway of Brazil and completed between November 28 and December 9, 1950.  After 1950, Alco produced diesel-electric locomotives exclusively until 1969.[16]

TO&E Locomotive #360 was built in July 1920 by the American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York, and it was Alco’s construction #62204.  The locomotive was built specifically for the TO&E, and was likely one of several locomotives that were built for the TO&E at the time.  (In many cases, railroads often ordered several locomotives of the same design at the same time, and the locomotives would then form a “class” of locomotives used on that particular railroad.)  At some point in the locomotive’s history, it was transferred to the Dierks Lumber & Coal Company, which changed its name to Dierks Forests, Inc., in November 1954.  Although it is unknown exactly when the locomotive was retired, it was likely during the 1950s.  The TO&E, along with its sister line, the De Queen and Eastern, worked on upgrading their locomotives to diesel models c.1950.[17]

After Locomotive #360 was retired, it was likely stored at the facilities of the TO&E or the De Queen & Eastern Railroad.  However, in 1963, the Arkansas National Guard relocated the locomotive to Queen Wilhelmina State Park where it was put on display near the miniature railroad, which was brought to the park a few years earlier in 1960.[18]  Since it’s relocation in 1963, Locomotive #360 has been on display for visitors to Queen Wilhelmina State Park to enjoy, and today a set of steps provides access for visitors to see the cab of the locomotive.

Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad Steam Locomotive #360 is a reminder of the types of railroad technology that were used in the early twentieth century in Arkansas, especially in the timberlands of the southern and western parts of the state.  Steam Locomotives were the main type of locomotive used on Arkansas railroads from the nineteenth century up until diesel locomotives came into use during the mid-twentieth century.  Today, less than twenty steam locomotives remain in Arkansas, and TO&E Locomotive #360 is one of only three 4-6-0 locomotives remaining in the state.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPERTY

When it came to the lumber industry in Arkansas, the railroads of the state were an integral and important part of the lumbering process.  It was the state’s railroad lines, both main lines and branch and spur lines, that provided initial access to the timber tracts, and then helped to haul the cut trees to the nearest mill and the finished lumber products to the markets. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, steam locomotives provided the motive power to the trains, and locomotives like Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Steam Locomotive #360 were an important part of the transportation network for the state’s lumber industry.

Steam Locomotive #360, a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler, was the perfect locomotive to be used for work in the lumber industry by the early twentieth century.  Although the type was initially developed as a locomotive that could be used for a variety of types of work, by the late nineteenth century it was used mainly for passenger service, a role that it would often play until the early 1910s.  However, by the time that Steam Locomotive #360 was built, the 4-6-0 type of locomotive was more often used for work on secondary or branch lines, which is the type of work that the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern would have used #360 for.

As a result of its importance in the transportation and lumber industries of Arkansas during the early twentieth century, and due to the fact that it is a good example of a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler steam locomotive, Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Steam Locomotive #360 is being nominated to the Arkansas Register with local significance under Criteria A and C.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hull, Clifton.  Shortline Railroads of Arkansas.  Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Information on Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad Steam Locomotive #360.  Found at:  https://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=38.

Kirkland, John F.  The Diesel Builders, Volume Two:  American Locomotive Company and Montreal Locomotive Works.  Glendale, CA:  Interurban Press, 1989.

Staff of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.  “Queen Wilhelmina State Park.”  The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.  Found at:  https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/queen-wilhelmina-state-park-1254/.

Veenendaal, Augustus J., Jr., “Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TE024.

White, John H., Jr.  American Locomotives:  An Engineering History, 1830-1880, Revised and Expanded Edition.  Baltimore:  The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.