Delta Valley and Southern Railway

The Delta Valley and Southern Railway (reporting mark DVS) is a short-line railroad headquartered in Wilson, Arkansas.

Delta Valley and Southern Railway
Map of Delta Valley and Southern's active (red) and abandoned (pink) line
Overview
HeadquartersWilson, Arkansas
Reporting markDVS
LocaleArkansas
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

DVS operates a two-mile line in Arkansas near Wilson with one switch engine.

The line is the former 18.1-mile (29.1 km) St. Louis-San Francisco Railway branch from Elkins to Deckerville. All but 2 miles (3.2 km) from Delpro to Elkins was abandoned in 1947.

As of 1996, the railroad operated from its enginehouse at the present end of the line to a connection with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) south of Wilson. The line served one cotton processing plant owned by the R.E.L. Wilson company. Motive power was a GE 45-tonner side-rod locomotive, purchased new in May 1954, GE s/n 32129. The locomotive, DV&S 50, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The locomotive was housed in a single stall engine house built right over the main line of this short railroad, at the end of the line. However, that locomotive was sold in 2009.[1]

Corporate headquarters are located in the company town of Wilson, Arkansas.[2] The corporate office is on the south side of the central business district in Wilson.

Surviving equipment

No. 73 is a 2-6-0 “Mogul” built by Baldwin in 1916.[3] It has 19" cylinders and 49-1/2" driving wheels.[3] Numbered as 34 by the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad before that line was sold to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco") in 1925, the locomotive was renumbered to 73 and kept by the Frisco until sold on September 19, 1945, to the Delta Valley and Southern.[3] It is preserved on the Lee Wesson Plantation in Victoria, Arkansas[4] under the Delta Valley & Southern Locomotive No. 73 name with no visible numbers on the cab or tender,[1] but with the original Frisco raccoon-skin-shaped number board and “73” on its nose.[3]

References
  1. "Historic Trains of Arkansas—Locomotives and Railcars". Julie Kohl, Only in Arkansas, February 5, 2019. 5 February 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  2. Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide. Kalmbach. p. 102.
  3. "New Frisco Survivor" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, January, 1990 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  4. "Surviving Steam Locomotives in Arkansas". SteamLocomotive.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.


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