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This corrected version is reposted September 20, 2025 to restore lost attachment images originally present. The post was originally transcribed from the “Arkansas Railroad History” facebook page, posted February 10, 2017.
Back in the day, MoPac issued a passenger train line up at Little Rock with information about train operations each day. Much of this dealt with handling of the large volume of mail and express traffic that was still being carried by passenger trains. This document covers some of the Little Rock details for January 15, 1965.
[attachment=6:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0001w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
This document shows all passenger cars on hand at Little Rock Union Depot (LRUD) on the morning of January 15, 1965. The cars in the “chair car” column are actually box express cars. Coach 1190 was a modernized heavyweight coach, 60 seat capacity. Cars 1007 and 1017 were heavyweight baggage-mail cars with a 30-foot railway post office compartment.
[attachment=5:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0002w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
This wire, generated at Texarkana, shows cars on hand and cars dispatched at Texarkana, which was a major mail and express sorting point for most traffic moving into the southwest USA.
[attachment=4:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0003w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
This partial consist of Train #8 out of Texarkana included 999998, a passenger train articulated piggyback flat with one empty truck trailer and one loaded with mail to St. Louis. Car 879 was a heavyweight MP baggage car with mail from San Antonio to Memphis. The car would be switched from #8 to #38 at Little Rock for movement on to Memphis.
[attachment=3:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0004w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
Much of the mail traffic was southbound, without a corresponding volume of mail northbound. PRR express boxcars were loaded with bundles of empty mail sacks for movement back north. Charles Witsell was the longtime station agent at LRUD, until Amtrak day, May 1, 1971. There was a difference between mail sacks and mail pouches. Sacks were large duffle bag sized canvas bags stuffed full of mail or parcel post. Mail pouches were the smaller oval sacks which were hung from mail cranes and picked up by Railway Post Office clerks on the fly as the train passed a station without stopping.
[attachment=2:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0005w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
Train #37, originated not at Memphis Union Station (now closed) but at a makeshift MP passenger station at 43 East Calhoun in Memphis. Note the large volume of mail that this train brought back to Little Rock… one car for Little Rock, another for movement on train #31 to Alexandria, one for Texas, and one for Hope, AR and ultimately Shreveport. The Hope car was tacked on the rear of Texas Eagle #1 and dropped at Hope – thus the reason for #1’s very brief stop at that station.
[attachment=1:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0006w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
Even as early as 1965, mail and express traffic was being diverted to freight service. No. 61 was a “hot” through freight which carried a substantial volume of mail and express, as can be seen from this wire. Note the large volume of mail and express moving to Texarkana. Both the Postal Transportation Service and Railway Express Agency maintained large sorting facilities, where mail or express was unloaded, resorted and reloaded to different destinations. Bulk mail from New York bound for El Paso, Dallas, Austin and Houston might thus be in the same car out of New York to Texarkana, then separated into individual cars going to each of the destinations. Railway Express refrigerator cars were being used for mail and express, as were PRR express boxcars. The reason for diversion of this traffic to freight is uncertain — the consignee might be paying a lesser rate for freight, but it may have been more a matter of schedules and consists maxed out on #7, which was the workhorse mail & express train out of St. Louis.
[attachment=0:3o8a1wu6]1965-1-15-LRK_0007w.jpg[/attachment:3o8a1wu6]
Comments appreciated from anyone having additional information about these operations.
Bill Pollard
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.See the Fall 2023 issue of the MPHS Eagle for details on dome assignments to the Missouri River Eagle over the years. The 26-seat drawing room parlor observation cars were replaced with straight parlor cars in June 1961, with the change date reported as June 8, 1961.
Bill Pollard
Were you able to post an image of the cardboard piece that you are describing?
An earlier post raised the issue of the gold “Hall’s China” backstamp seen on one version of the MoPac cobalt teapot, with a question of whether this might be counterfeit. Since that time, another example of the gold backstamp has been discovered on a Palmer House (Chicago) ash tray. Like the MoPac teapot, this piece is marked both with the blue Halls circular stamp and also with the gold Halls backstamp as well as the Palmer House identification. In view of this other example, it is now presumed that at one time, Hall’s utilized the gold backstamp to better identify their production and is thus legitimate.
Bill Pollard
[attachment=1:1cfn45f4]palmer-house.jpg[/attachment:1cfn45f4]
[attachment=0:1cfn45f4]backstamp-1.jpg[/attachment:1cfn45f4]
1970s notes from a deceased MP china collector indicate that he was aware of at least 5 different pieces of MP cobalt china. His description follows:
ashtray
small teapot
round teapot like Syracuse made in ATSF California Poppy or Mimbreno style
tall cocoa (?) pot
trivet, possibly for salt and pepper shakersBill Pollard
Charlie, that is most interesting. So…. there should be some version of glass creamer with MP buzzsaw that was actually legitimate? I am surprised that there are not some floating around. Could some that we have dismissed as fake in the past actually have been the real deal?
Bill
I understand the reason for a watermark, considering the time and money spent to digitize material, but on some images its quite obtrusive.
Bill Pollard
There were actually two versions of the September 24, 1961 No. 1 timetable, but yes, this date is the first Jenks timetable. The last full system timetable with the multi-color Eagle cover was issued December 4, 1960, shortly before DBJ assumed the presidency on February 1, 1961.
The “full” September 1961 timetable has a brown cover, a full size map inside, two pages of fares, a station index, and almost two pages of traffic representatives. This one is 12 pages, staple bound. The “condensed” September 1961 timetable has a white cover, with inside pages numbered 3-4-5-6-7, corresponding to the same pages in the full timetable. I did not see any changes in times or text which would suggest that one was a later revision of the first. It would be interesting to see the instructions to the passenger department from the executive office telling them to trim the timetable production cost. At the time, it must have looked like a drastic downgrade from the colorful Eagle timetable, which was one of the most attractive in the nation. Looking at the Jenks timetable today, compared to Amtrak’s pitiful service across MP territory, it would be viewed much more favorably.
Bill Pollard
[attachment=0:ftbf8u1o]MP_9-24-1961_full-w.jpg[/attachment:ftbf8u1o] [attachment=1:ftbf8u1o]MP_9-24-1961_cond-w.jpg[/attachment:ftbf8u1o]
A color cover variation -gold- has now been reported for timetable #4. How many other varieties are out there waiting to be discovered?
Bill Pollard
[attachment=0:22nc7w6d]ETT-4-Gold-w.jpg[/attachment:22nc7w6d]
Your assistant is quite astute, and I concur on all points. It appears that some of the pennies are indeed post-1960. As for the coke bottle, I am not sure that Coke was even sold in bottles in this car or the adjacent diner-lounge, but if they were, it would almost certainly have been the smaller size bottle with the raised lettering. At least the cards are of proper vintage rather than having something like the screaming Eagle logo on the back.
I wasn’t going to mention it, but that cup probably should be Eagle china too.
Bill Pollard
@arkrail wrote:
G.L. Bonney – (listed in 1908 Pocket List)
L.M. Hill – ca 1916
L.E. Martin – circa 1922 to 2nd half 1940 (per Pocket List, listed 1940-2nd, gone by 1941-1st)
W.F. Ziervogel, started 2nd half 1940. Retired July 1, 1953 per MP Mag.
A.C. Drui, replaced Ziervogel on July 1, 1953 per MP Mag. Listed on menus into early 1965. (Drui’s name last appeared in May 1963 Official Guide; Dining car Superintendent position not listed in Guide thereafter)
J.W. Cornett, (By 1966, possibly 1965, continuing into 1970. Through at least 5-68 per menu; Pocket List thru 4th 1970 ??)
J.M. Toler, was reportedly given responsibility for dining car operation after Cornett retired.As a result of additional information and research, the above list should be revised as follows:
A.C. Drui replaced Ziervogel on July 1, 1953 and retired ca July 1966 after 42 years of MP service.
J.W. Cornett was appointed general superintendent of dining cars to replace Drui (ca July 1966, reported in August 1966 MP News) and remained in that position until at least 1970 and possibly through the end of MP passenger service on April 30, 1971.
It is currently unclear whether J.M. Toler was given specific responsibility for dining car operation in the final months, or whether Cornett simply reported to him.Bill Pollard
The headrests look great! I’m glad that MPHS was able to participate in the restoration of this unique piece of equipment. Please advise if another small run of headrest covers is produced for sale.
On the timetable rack, those 1965 public timetables do need to be replaced with the 1960 or earlier colorful Eagle timetables to be historically accurate – these cars were long out of service before those 1965 timetables were issued.
Bill Pollard
In September 1963, Gene Hull took a couple of photos of the Alco PA dead line at North Little Rock. In this group, a total of six blue units can be seen, although we know the number of only one. A recap of the known blue units thus far: 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 57, 58, 66, 68, 69, 75 and 77.
At least two (and likely more) were repainted into Jenks blue before they were renumbered, including 8014 and 8026.
Another question is when these units were actually pulled from service. They were still being used some, including on the Texas Eagle, in July 1963, but were all on the dead line by September 1963 if Gene Hull’s date notes are correct.
Bill Pollard
[attachment=1:1f3x6j5l]Hull-RR453-MP-PA-NLR-9-1963_WL.jpg[/attachment:1f3x6j5l]
[attachment=0:1f3x6j5l]Hull-RR454-MP-PA-NLR-9-1963_WL.jpg[/attachment:1f3x6j5l]
As rebuilt/modernized 6326-6329 were 52-seat coaches. 5 additional (non-revenue) seats were in the two restroom lounges so the diagrams show capacity of 57. We have gotten a number of additional diagrams since the heavyweight passenger CD was published. I believe the diagram for this series is in the original CD, but if not, let me know.
Bill Pollard
49, 57 and 77 for sure were blue. Mike Condren shot all of those in Little Rock, mid-1962 to early 1963. It would be a useful process to compile a list of which PA’s received Jenks blue and which ones went to scrap still in Eagle colors. I believe a Jenks PA pulled the last Pacific commuter run.
Did the PA’s ever go into freight service when displaced by the non-EMD purge, or did they just got straight to the deadlines at Precision National?
I saw a sales list of stuff being sold off the MoP PAs that were at Precision National, and the price for an Eagle was in the range of $20. Shipping was considerably more, and I was unable to persuade my parents to purchase one, my finances in the 8th grade not being sufficient to cover the cost. Surely others purchased one, but I have never seen a PA Eagle for sale (and very few of the EMD version).
Bill Pollard
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