Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas

Episode 3: Three Engineers Swap Stories

This episode features the experiences of three longtime Rock Island engineers: Harold Rhoads, Buddy Bryant and Howard Smith. They started as firemen in the years after World War II, with two of the three working with steam locomotives before they were completely phased out. They worked throughout Arkansas and into Memphis, Tennessee and shared their most memorable stories, as well as the frustrations of working for the railroad during a period of rapid decline before being shut down in 1980.
The three sat down together to swap stories in Little Rock on April 16, 2003, with the discussion being recorded by Tom Sandlin. For about a decade, Sandlin traveled throughout the country recording hundreds of in-depth interviews with former Rock Island employees. In December 2020, he gave me a couple hundred cassette tapes of those interviews, which I’ve been working to digitize. In addition to including highlights of those in my podcast series, I’m also posting the full interviews on my website hibblenradio.com. Sandlin is to be commended for not only documenting these experiences, but realizing the value of oral histories at a time when many Rock Island employees where dying. Sadly, Rhoads, Bryant and Smith have since died, but their stories live on, thanks to Tom Sandlin.
I also include an update on the project to preserve the Rock Island Depot in Perry, Arkansas, which was the focus of my previous episode. Since that program was produced, the depot has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While a lot has been accomplished, there’s still much to do in the restoration of the wooden one-story depot which was a key point on this stretch of the Rock Island’s main line between Memphis and Tucumcari, New Mexico. I spoke with Buford Suffridge, president of the Perry Country Historical & Genealogical Society, about what’s being planned next.

Episode 2: Preserving the Perry Depot

After learning in 2017 the Rock Island depot in Perry, Arkansas was slated to be torn down, a campaign was launched to move it to an adjacent lot — still alongside the track — and begin work to preserve it. The structure, built in 1918, was important logistically for the railroad as part of the line that ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Tucumcari, New Mexico. This episode features interviews with Buford Suffridge, who has been leading the project, and Danny Majors, the son of longtime Depot Agent Joe Mayors.

Episode 1: Reunions of Former Employees, L.T. Walker

Decades after the Rock Island Railroad was shut down by a bankruptcy judge in 1980, former employees in Arkansas continue getting together for annual reunions. Unlike many railroads, they say the Rock Island was a family operation. They share stories, get caught up on what's happening with one another, and pay tribute to employees who have died since their previous gathering. On this episode, we'll hear from participants of a 2017 reunion, and hear highlights from a 1988 interview I recorded with former conductor Leonard Tillman Walker, who helped start these reunions after the railroad was no more.