The Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (JLC&E) was a

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 opera ...

that operated in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and Craighead County of northeast Arkansas. This railroad received a charter from the State of Arkansas on April 7, 1897, and track construction between Jonesboro and Blytheville began soon thereafter.

History

The initial push to construct the JLC&E came from timber owners and land speculators in northeast Arkansas, all of whom saw the availability of railroad transportation as a necessary ingredient to harvesting timber. By the time the railroad was completed in the summer of 1901, several large sawmills were either in operation or being built along the tracks. In early 1911, the JLC&E was purchased by

Robert E. Lee Wilson Robert Edward Lee Wilson (March 5, 1865 – September 27, 1933) was the creator and owner of Lee Wilson and Company, a group of large cotton plantations in the American South, plantations in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Acquiring much of his f ...

, a prominent landowner who resided in

Wilson, Arkansas Wilson is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The community is located in the Arkansas Delta and is surrounded by fertile cropland historically used to produce cotton. Wilson started as a company town in 1886 by Robert E. Lee Wi ...

. The JLC&E railroad was purchased by the

St. Louis–San Francisco Railway The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway , commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated of road on of track, not includi ...

(Frisco) in 1925, and operated as a Frisco branch line into the 1970s. All of the former JLC&E tracks have been dismantled, except for a short segment between Blytheville and

Armorel, Arkansas Armorel is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 312. It is in a largely rural area with most of its land devoted to forests an ...

Surviving equipment

No. 34 is a

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

“Mogul” built by Baldwin in 1916 and operated on the JLC&E. It has cylinders and driving wheels. When the line was sold to the Frisco, the locomotive was renumbered to 73 and kept by the Frisco until sold on September 19, 1945, to the Delta Valley and Southern Railway. The engine is preserved on the Lee Wesson Plantation in Victoria, Arkansas under the Delta Valley & Southern Locomotive No. 73 name with no visible numbers on the cab or tender, but with the original Frisco raccoon-skin-shaped number board and “73” on its nose. No. 40 and No. 41 are

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

Consolidation-type engines built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in December 1920 for the JLC&E. When the line became part of the Frisco, the locomotives were renumbered as 76 and 77. After performing freight service for years, both engines were sold in 1947 to the

Mississippian Railway The Mississippian Railway is a short line railroad operating from Amory, Mississippi, to Fulton, Mississippi. It is owned and operated by the Itawamba County Railroad Authority. The MSRW interchanges with the BNSF Railway at Amory, Mississip ...

where they retained the Frisco numbers. After several further changes in ownership for each, No. 40 is now owned by the B&O Railroad Museum in

Oakland, Maryland Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The town has a population of 1,925 according to the 2010 United States Census. The town is also the county seat of Garrett County and is located within the Pitt ...

, where it has been renumbered and relettered as the

Baltimore & Ohio The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

476, and No. 41 is now with Alberta Prairie Railway in

Stettler, Alberta Stettler is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Stettler No. 6. The town is nicknamed "The Heart of Alberta". History Stettler was founded in 1905 and was named after Swiss immigrant Carl Stettler, who ...

, where it pulls excursion trains and has been renumbered back to the original 41.

References

*Dew, Lee A. (1968), ''The JLC&E, History of an Arkansas Railroad'', Arkansas State University Press,

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the f ...

. Defunct Arkansas railroads Predecessors of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Railway companies established in 1897 Railway companies disestablished in 1950 American companies disestablished in 1950 Transportation in Mississippi County, Arkansas Transportation in Craighead County, Arkansas {{US-rail-transport-stub

History

Surviving equipment

See also

References