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Model Railroading
UPDATED: April 16, 2026
If anything good can come of a pandemic, it’s sending model railroaders back to their projects and layout rooms. The Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad has experienced significant growth since early 2020 through evolution of operations, when staying inside seemed like the best idea.
While temptations to acquire more right of way have been tempered, a lot of new things have emerged since then. Track is complete (including a couple of expansions), scenery is nearly done and refining operations continues.
Some new additions have been chronicled in the Cowcatcher: the development of lower staging (July/August 2020); the Carthage Viaduct (November/December 2020); disguising main lines (March/April 2021) and building The Times-Gazette modern-day newspaper plant (September/October 2021 and November/December 2021).
The biggest development of the railroad has been defining its purpose. What does it do? Why is it there? Where is it going?
The railroad’s operational scope has evolved into streamlined movement of freight on a protolance Class I between Dallas and Kansas City through interchanges with secondary railroads and limited mainline switching. A second Class I via trackage rights plays a critical role and interchanges in Texarkana, AR.
Call it a bit of a precursor to E. Hunter Harrison’s precision scheduled railroading that began on the Illinois Central in 1993.
Once trains depart from Dallas and Kansas City, the only real switching is picking up and setting out cars at interchanges in Texarkana and Fort Smith. The heavy lifting happens with the W&PRR in Fort Smith via Van Buren, Whitehurst and Pine Ridge and the Kansas City Southern Terminal (KCST) in Texarkana, AR.
The only mainline switching is picking up and setting out cars as Buhrman-Pharr Hardware in Texarkana, TX, and interchanging with the W&PRR in Pine Ridge. All other interchange work is done via sidings.
The railroad has a diverse portfolio of commodities anchored by grain and agricultural products, petroleum products and coal. Secondary commodities include cement, produce, beer, paper, scrap, plastics and food.
The W&PRR, a growing Class II short line, provides last-mile service to Van Buren, Whitehurst and Pine Ridge through connections at Fort Smith and Pine Ridge.
About 200 miles away, two Class Is interchange with the KCST, which straddles the border of Texarkana, AR, and Texarkana, TX. It is the busiest operation on the railroad, turning 20-30 cars during a session.
The Class Is are suppliers of grain for two elevators, paper for the Arkansas Times-Gazette, produce, beer and general freight. The KCST classifies cars for pickup and delivery in a small yard in Texarkana, TX.
For the KCST, the day usually starts with a trip to the interchange in Texarkana, AR, to pick up set outs from both Class I railroads.
Grain is the most dominant commodity moved in and out of Texarkana.
A key run on the mainline is between Cargill’s elevator in Kansas City to Texarkana and Dallas. Service also includes a dedicated turn from Cargill to Texarkana and back. Avilla Feeds and M&M Milling handle about a dozen cars between them.
In Pine Ridge, Greystone Cement receives and dispatches cars for mainline traffic through a special interchange agreement at the W&PRR’s Willis Yard. Farmer’s Union usually receives one or two cars that either come on the mainline transfer or are hauled from Whitehurst.
Oil is a big player in Van Buren and Whitehurst. The W&PRR serves a small refinery and storage depot, plus Ozark Oil in Whitehurst and a fuel transload operation in Fort Smith. Enough volume exists for a dedicated Class I unit tank train for inbound and outbound movements.
Other commodities on the W&PRR include newsprint and plastics.
A typical operating session includes two mainline operators and switch jobs on the W&PRR and KCST. In between mainline runs, a Dallas operator may switch Zion lumber company in East Dallas and a bakery and Dallas Recycling off Dallas Yard, or build and break down trains.
In 23 official operating sessions through April 2026, the W&PRR, KCST and both Class Is have moved over 2,400 cars in 173 trains, an average of 14 cars per train, and confirmed the layout’s operational design.
As one observer said, the layout has great potential for jobs within jobs. Particularly with the small oil and fuel sweep on the W&PRR and grain jobs in Texarkana. A dedicated unit train between the Fort Smith interchange and Greystone Cement in Pine Ridge is a possibility.
Check back soon for more updates on the Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad.
