Today I’m continuing the series of the road trip that Ron Findley and I were taking back in May of 1989. It was a Saturday, and we had already visited several rail lines that morning. The fourth stop in our journey that day was in Warren, Arkansas. Our goal was to seek out the headquarters of the Warren & Saline River Railroad. It was headquartered in the Southern Lumber Co. (Potlatch) mill there, and upon locating the facility, our first sighting was of all things, an old former Rock Island caboose. It was behind a tall chain-link fence, but we photographed it through the links as best we could. And then an interesting thing happened. But rather than repeating the story, read this post that I made back in March of 2024.

We were led to the road’s two locomotives, #75 and #73. It was obvious that the #73 was the active locomotive, as the #75 was sans its engine, apparently needing some serious work. These diesel-electric locomotives are Whitcomb Locomotive Company 75 tonners, model 70DE24. They’re powered by a Sterling “Viking” series VDS-8 1200 horsepower diesel engine.

And below is an overall view of the railroad area at the mill.

Below is a photograph of some wood-chip hoppers being loaded just a short distance away. At left we see just a bit of the straddle lumber carrier. And just barely seen is the former Rock Island caboose . . . look just to the left of that metal tower at far right and you’ll (barely) see the caboose off in the distance. Follow the link above to see Ron’s photograph of it.

And finally, here’s the photograph of the lumber straddle carrier. This thing is the tallest straddle carrier that I’ve ever seen!

A good day at the Warren & Saline River!