ABOVE: Little Rock Union Station, located at 1400 West Markham Street, is owned by Bailey Prop- erties, LLC, and was gradually restored in the early 1990s. It first opened on August 1, 1921, and was the third depot built on this site. In the MoPac days, the two upper floors were used by train dispatchers and housed other freight and passenger offices. LEFT: The dominant railroad in the state of Arkansas is Union Pacific, and the action spot is Little Rock, the crossroads of two former MoPac lines with some 50 trains a day passing through the heart of downtown. Amtrak’s Texas Eagle passes through each way at night. STEVE JESSUP PHOTOS
At the time of its construction, the railroad also built the first bridge across the Arkansas River to link the northeast segment with the southwest line. A fer- ry was used to cross the waters before completion. On December 21, 1873, the Baring Cross Bridge opened, and the C&F now had unbroken rails through the state.
Little Rock Union Station
Long before North Little Rock Yard and Jenks Shop made their mark in the town’s railway history, Little Rock Union Station had no rival as the prominent rail landmark. Just prior to the joining of the C&F and the SL&IM, the Cairo & Fulton commenced with the original sta- tion building in 1872 and 1873. It was a wooden structure and became known as Iron Mountain Station in 1874.
Historical sources can’t agree on whether a “first fire” damaged part of the station in 1900, but the origi- nal structure was demolished in 1906 in favor of a new station built by the SLIM&S. Well-known St. Louis archi- tect Theodore C. Link was called upon to design the building, which featured Renaissance Revival and Gothic Revival styles. The new station was completed in 1907 at a cost of $750,000. All was well until April 7, 1920, when a major fire destroyed all but the clock tower and some structural arches that gave the station its distinguished look. Cleanup started the following day, and plans were made immediately for the building of the site’s third depot. Trains continued to stop at this location as tem-
porary accommodations were assembled. Another St. Louis architect, E.M. Tucker, designed the forthcoming station using some of the same features found in Link’s creation. The Stewart Construc- tion Company of St. Louis was awarded the contract. Finally on August 1, 1921, the $1.25 million Little Rock Union Sta- tion opened to serve the Missouri Pacific. Listed on the National Register of His- toric Places as “MoPac Station,” it was the largest “Union Station” in the U.S. served by just one railroad.
In 1927 Little Rock experienced its
worst flood, and this time the rail bridge became a casualty. It was rebuilt and opened again on February 2, 1929. In 1967, the bridge was retrofitted with a new lift span to meet the requirements for river navigation. Double track exists on the bridge and at the station with crossovers located on the north and south sides of the depot (the south crossover just out of sight looking that direction). Amtrak trains pulling into the station use a siding track nearest to the platform. On the op- posite side, the tracks of the Little Rock
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