Walnut Ridge to Alton -  US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 30

'Walnut Ridge to Alton' continues our journey through the night and into the morning as we travel through Arkansas, Missouri and enter Illinois.

Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:

Walnut Ridge:
By the time we reach Walnut Ridge we are 2,215 miles into our journey. I am asleep as the time is around 1.40 am.

It is an Italianate/Mediterranean style station dating from 1920. Today it serves as the home to the local Chamber of Commerce tourist centre and the Amtrak passenger stop. In 2019 nearly 2,900 passengers brave the night hour and use the station.
Poplar Bluff:
We cross the Arkansas / Missouri border on our way to Poplar Bluff where the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway railway station dates from 1910. In 1994 the station is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2003 Union Pacific donates the building to a citizens-led non-profit local committee to Save and Restore the Historic Train Depot. The group raises money to restore both the exterior and interior of the station.

The station hosts nearly 3,750 passengers in 2023.
Arcadia Valley:
First the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway serves the Arcadia Valley with a northbound station in Arcadia and a southbound one in Ironton.

In 1941 the Missouri Pacific construct a new station to consolidate the stations in Arcadia and Ironton. They call the new station Arcadia-Ironton. In 1965 passenger services cease and the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Iron County Historical Society occupy the station.

The current station opens in November 2016 and in 2023 a total of 1,228 night owls use the station.
St. Louis and onwards:
We arrive into the Gateway City of St. Louis and then travel through the morning to Alton in Illinois.

If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks as we continue our journey on the Texas Eagle through Illinois towards Chicago.
Links:
To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

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