The Arkansas Midland Railroad is a Class III

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

headquartered in Malvern, Arkansas. AKMD operates of line in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

consisting of seven disconnected branch lines and two sister railroads, the Prescott & Northwestern (PNW) and the Warren & Saline River (WSR). The AKMD branches were formerly part of the Union Pacific Railroad, or a predecessor, while the PNW and WSR lines were acquired from Potlatch Corporation. All branch lines connect (interchange traffic) with Union Pacific Railroad. AKMD also interchanges with BNSF in North Little Rock, and the

North Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad The North Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad (NL&AR) operates more than 62 miles of track, extending from McGehee, Arkansas to Lake Providence, Louisiana. The NL&AR owns about 24 miles of the track, while about 41 miles are leased from the Lake Prov ...

at McGehee. *Hot Springs Branch: from

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, through Hot Springs, to

Mountain Pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and S ...

*North Little Rock Branch: from

North Little Rock North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or ...

(7.8 mi. former Cotton Belt, . former Rock Island) *Warren Branch: from

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

to Dermott, with

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

over an additional to McGehee *Cypress Bend Branch: from McGehee to Cypress Bend *Helena Branch: from

Lexa Repressor LexA or LexA is a transcriptional repressor () that represses SOS response genes coding primarily for error-prone DNA polymerases, DNA repair enzymes and cell division inhibitors. LexA forms ''de facto'' a two-component regulatory system ...

to Helena *Jacksonville Branch: *

Prescott and Northwestern Railroad The Prescott and Northwestern Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Prescott, Arkansas. It is operated by Arkansas Midland Railroad, which is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. The railroad was chartered in 1890, for the purpose of cons ...

(PNW, affiliated): *

Warren and Saline River Railroad The Warren and Saline River Railroad is an short-line railroad connecting Cloquet, Arkansas to the Arkansas Midland Railroad at Warren. It has always been independent of larger carriers, and was previously owned by the Potlatch Corporation, a l ...

(WSR, affiliated): *Gurdon Branch (emergency operation of a segment of the

Caddo Valley Railroad Caddo Valley Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Glenwood, Arkansas. CVYR operates a 52-mile line in Arkansas from Gurdon, Arkansas (where it interchanges with Union Pacific) to Bird Mill, Arkansas. The line was first owned by M ...

): AKMD traffic generally consists of forest and agricultural products, aggregates, aluminum, building materials and chemicals. AKMD was a subsidiary of

Pinsly Railroad Company Pinsly Railroad Company, based in Westfield, Massachusetts, is a short line railroad holding company. It is one of the oldest such companies in the United States, and has owned railroads continuously since its founding in 1938. Pinsly's sole rail ...

, a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

owning seven short-line railroads in the United States. The Hot Springs, Helena and Galloway branches are owned by AKMD (purchased in 1992); the Warren, Cypress Bend and Jacksonville branches are leased; the PNW and WSR are owned by Pinsly and operated by AKMD. On December 5, 2014,

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

filed a Notice of Exemption with the Surface Transportation Board to acquire AKMD (along with affiliates PNW and WSR) from Pinsly. The acquisition was complete by 2015.

References

External links

Arkansas Midland Railway Company, Inc. AKMD #77
''Union Pacific Railroad''
Arkansas Midland Railroad (Genesee & Wyoming website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkansas Midland Railroad 1992 Arkansas railroads Spin-offs of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway companies established in 1992