Gary Rowan

I had an uncle that passed away and the funeral was today. Visiting that area brought back some memories as there is much of the family history there.

To get to the cemetery, we had to cross over the old Rock Island main track. This was part of the Memphis-Tucemcari route running west from Memphis, through Little Rock and then on to Oklahoma.

The main line looking west, and then looking to the east. Still in pretty good shape, although further west towards Danville, it's starting to get grown over due to lack of traffic.



Went back through Perry, AR on the way home and made a quick stop.

This portion of the former Rock Island is now the Little Rock and Western (LRW). But sitting at the Perry yard were two Arkansas Midland (AKMD) units #400 and #414 (a GP8 and and GP10 respectively, to the best of my knowledge). The LRW
was at one time owned by the Green Bay Packaging company, but is now owned by the Gennesee & Wyoming, as is the AKMD.



This picture show the loco and repair shed in the yard.
This was built during the early LRW days. Part of the old depot roof was cut off when this was built. The little lean-to on the left side sat right up against the back wall of the depot building.



The new owners were going to demolish the old depot but were willing to let someone save and move it, if possible.
Here's the old Perry depot in it's new home, undergoing restoration. It was moved about a city block from the yard to some city owned property.



A couple of odd snapshots: an old piston and rod, and what looks like brand new cylinder heads?