St. Louis Southwestern 819 - Retired To The Park

Retired To The Park

In order to raise money for the cost of moving and constructing a permanent display structure for the engine, the City of Pine Bluff sold "shares" in the locomotive to the school children in Jefferson County. Children were requested to "buy" Engine 819 by contributing a one penny per pound (the engine & tender weigh 541,300 pounds) and were presented with cards signed by the mayor indicating the number of "shares" purchased. It had been estimated they needed to raise $4,000.00 for the concrete based, metal roofed, pipe framed shed surrounded by a concrete walkway and 6-foot-high (1.8 m) fence. The problem of getting the locomotive moved to the display was solved when Cotton Belt agreed to lend materials for a temporary spur to the park. Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific employees contributed the labor in building the spur and moving the historic locomotive and tender.

However, just four years later, the Pine Bluff Commercial ran this note in the October 6, 1959 edition:

A Commercial newsman's inspection this week of the Cotton Belt locomotive permanently on display on a site between Oakland and Townsend Parks revealed the old steam engine has been neglected by the city. When the railroad donated the engine to the city it did so with the stipulation that the locomotive would receive proper care. Not only had the engine been allowed to deteriorate through rust, the effects of the weather in non-metal portions and acts of vandalism, but the grounds have been allowed to grow up around the fenced-in area so that visitors must trudge through weeds to get an up-close look at the locomotive.

It took the better part of a year to get 819's situation improved. It was decided to move the engine to a new location approximately 150 yards west of its old spot, near the front of the Reserve building. The Pine Bluff Jaycees spearheaded the drive to build a green and white steel shed at the new location, while the move and reconditioning was being coordinated by members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Cotton Belt employees. Several civic organizations talked of undertaking the project of restoring the engine to better condition, only to find out that such a project required technical know-how that only railmen possessed. That was when BRT stepped in and offered to assist with the engine.

"Before we're through," one of the men said "that old engine will look just like it did the day it rolled out of the shop she was built in. We hope to have her fixed where she'll be better taken care of, too."

One exciting footnote occurred during the short move: During the move to her new location between Townsend and Oakland Parks, Engine 819 "broke loose" and coasted down an incline on her temporary track. The locomotive, after starting to coast, rammed the park's lake embankment and finally stopped against a large black oak tree. The workmen labored the next day to get the engine back on her rails and into place. Crews stated they expected to have the locomotive in her new quarters in about two more weeks.

Although the engine and tender were successfully relocated during the Fall of 1960, it was several more years before the steel shed was erected overhead to protect the locomotive. In addition to the Pine Bluff Jaycees, the City of Pine Bluff and the Pine Bluff Park Commission each donated $500. Pine Bluff Mayor Franks personally donated $250 and another $250 was donated by the Townsend Park Commission. Gene Gardner, an engineer with International Paper, designed the green and white steel shed and drew up the plans for it. International Paper Company and the Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Company furnished the concrete footings for the shed, while Varco Steel did the construction work. Construction of the shed was completed in September 1965 when a chain-link fence was installed and the landscaping was finished.

Upon completion of Engine 819's new home in 1965, Mayor Austin Franks shared one of the two keys to the gate with long-time railfan James Norris. Norris' father had taken the locomotive out for her first run in 1943 and young James always remembered his late-father when he saw the engine. Despite being in his late 50s and in failing health, James Norris faithfully visited the locomotive every week to knock off the bird nests and occasionally replace some broken glass in the cab. He would open the gate on Sundays while he was there to let kids climb on the locomotive, ring the bell and answer their many questions.

"Every time I come out here I can see my daddy standing right on that step." Norris said "It kinda gets down in your heart."

It is uncertain when Mr. Norris' health got so bad that he could no longer continue his weekly maintenance visits to the 819, but he admitted in 1965 that his doctor had told him to stay away from the locomotive. Records indicate that Mr. Norris died in 1970 and by 1983 the Arkansas Democrat described the locomotive as "covered in graffiti and vandals have removed, or tried to take, whatever wasn't too heavy to carry off." Miss Arkansas of 1958, Sally Miller Perdue, from Pine Bluff complained "It had been abandoned and stripped of all its dignity. It has become the iron-horse that was put out to pasture, neglected and abused."

Ms. Perdue, whose family had a long history with the railroad, agreed to chair a sub-committee of the Chamber of Commerce's Publicity & Tourism to get the 819 rejuvenated and relocated. With a slogan of "Let's Put the Steam Back in Pine Bluff", she felt that a lot of volunteers, mainly retired Cotton Belt craftsmen and engineers, would be interested in working to restore the 819. Superintendent R. R. McClanahan of the Cotton Belt Pine Bluff Division worked hard to get the locomotive and tender transported from the park back to the shops to make those repairs.