From the Darkroom: When News & Leader duo rode one of the last trains to Arkansas

Springfield-Greene County Library District
·1 min read
After more than half a century of service, the passenger trains of the Missouri Pacific Railroad on the White River Division closed in March of 1960. The southbound Missouri Pacific passenger train crosses over the Myrtle bridge crossing over Bear Creek north of Bergman, Arkansas in this photo first published in the News & Leader on March 20, 1960.
After more than half a century of service, the passenger trains of the Missouri Pacific Railroad on the White River Division closed in March of 1960. The southbound Missouri Pacific passenger train crosses over the Myrtle bridge crossing over Bear Creek north of Bergman, Arkansas in this photo first published in the News & Leader on March 20, 1960.

Lucile Morris Upton and newspaper photographer Betty Love took a trip through the Missouri and Arkansas mountains on one of the last passenger trains of the White River Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1960.

After more than half a century, passenger trains were being discontinued in an effort to stop heavy operating losses. The train was running between Pleasant Hill, near Kansas City, to Newport, Arkansas. Known for its high costs to build, it required five tunnels and a vast number of wooden trestles to traverse the hilly area.

Railroad men on the train said the 96 miles that ran along the White River between Cotter and Batesville in Arkansas were the prettiest to be seen. Upton and Love rode the line between Aurora, Missouri and Pyatt, Arkansas, where they met the northbound train for their return journey. A part of the White River line is still traveled by the Branson Scenic Railway.

This image is part of a much larger collection of historically rich photographs from the News-Leader’s photo archive. Each week, the Springfield-Greene County Library will tap into this vast collection and present an interesting image “from the darkroom" and share its history. This image is presented in partnership between the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the Springfield News-Leader. For more historical images of the Ozarks, visit: thelibrary.org/fromthedarkroom.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: From the Darkroom: Riding a train from Missouri to Arkansas