I believe... The Helena Southwestern Railroad was a part of the Cotton Belt in Arkansas. "Helena" refers to Helena, Arkansas. At one time, this railroad operated 22 cars. The line was abandoned around 1986. Reporting marks are HSW. I would like to see pictures of their engines or equipment, if any exist. Thanks. Athern HSW boxcar: I was looking for a centerflow hopper.
Looked in my 1984 Official Guide. A tiny amount of info. It ran from West Helena to Helena. So there wasn't much trackage. Outside connection was with the Mopac. Boxcab E50
Flash I see its been awhile since you posted this, but I recently received a HSW boxcar, and I have been doing some searching for the HSW. I found this site with pics of ex HSW boxcars. http://homepage.mac.com/davidhoge/lrwnbox/lrwnbox.htm Thom
The Helena Southwestern shows up in Kalmbach's American ShortlineRailway Guide for 1986. At that time it owned a 44 Ton GE swithcer and 49 box cars. Its four miles of track connected with Missouri Pacific. Traffic was lumber and forest products. The line was incorporated in 1924 and it was owned by the Chicago Mill & Lumber Company. I find no Cotton Belt connection for this road.
Thanks for the information. I have to get myself started on this project. Lots of very nice boxcar repaints to choose from.
Heres some regular service shots.. http://www.railcarphotos.com/Search...SearchCity=&SearchState=&Order=&Search=Search Also, heres some info I got from the Cotton Belt Yahoo group... "The Helena Southwestern connected with the Missouri Pacific. I believe it was not a common carrier as it does not appear in either Moody's I have. It does appear in Kalmbach's 1986 American Shortline Railway Guide as belonging to the Chicago Mill & Lumber Co. It was incorporated in 1924." Thom
