A Message for the Friends of the ATT&NW

As many of you know, the Arborway TT & Northwestern Railroad is no more. Judy Woods sold the Woodsvalley Farm property early last year to a St. Louis family with deep ties to the Crawford County area. While their dedication to Ozark conservation mirrors that of the Woods family, the new owners had no interest in keeping and operating the railroad. No longer will steam whistles echo thru the Meramec Valley.

Over the past months, our friends Darrell Klopmaker and Alex Beams, along with Steve Haack, have been seeking interested buyers of the ATT&NW rolling stock and other railroad-related equipment.

We are pleased to announce that Hillcrest-built diesel switch engine #27, the Bell Gardens electric trolley and trailer, the maintenance speeder #86 and trailer, the surfacing tractor, all ten of the Hillcrest-built freight cars including the Hillcrest caboose; the two Uhrich-built passenger coaches, the side-dump hopper and some spare parts and patterns have been purchased by a partnership that includes Californians Brendon Hilton, Alexander DeCarli and Ken Keagy, all veterans of Grand Scale Railroading. The equipment will be transported to Ken’s spectacular Hetch Hetchy & Yosemite Valleys Railway near Sonora, in California’s Gold Country. A new carbarn is under construction there, and the switch leading to the storage area for these cars will be “Woods Junction” in honor of John R. Woods. They have indicated at least some of the cars will retain ATT&NW lettering.

Locomotive 17, the diesel built by Darrell Klopmaker and team in Wisconsin, has been sold to Halter Ranch near Paso Robles, California, where it will be put to good use on a new 15-inch gauge line of mostly European-prototype equipment. It was the first ATT&NW locomotive to arrive at Woodsvalley Farm and the first to leave. Halter Ranch picked up the unit February 9 for the highway trip to California.

The ATT&NW work train will return to Wisconsin, where Darrell Klopmaker plans to convert the flat cars into passenger cars for a soon-to-be-built 15-inch gauge line at Sweet Pickins Pumpkin Ranch near Kalispell, Montana. Darrell has already built a diesel locomotive for this railroad. Other ATT&NW work equipment will find a home with Darrell and Alex Beams on the Whiskey River Railroad in Wisconsin.

The Bell Gardens train sets, including the freight cars and caboose, two F-type locomotives and the Convair-built GP7, have been sold to Post Farms for their Marana Pumpkin Patch railroad near Tucson, AZ.

Locomotive 801 is still for sale. Darrell Klopmaker is acting as “agent” on behalf of Judy Woods to find a good home for the “crown jewel” of the ATT&NW. Contact him if you have any leads or ideas.

The sad news is that Harmer Steel has been contracted to remove the railroad in May. It is expected that there will be plenty of ties, miniature railroad rail and switches available through that company. They expect to remove switches with ties attached. Contact George Webb at Harmer if you are an interested buyer. GWebb@harmersteel.com

The ATT&NW roundhouse, depot and tunnels, the pump handcar, the “T” signal bridge, the small bridge and the big trestle on the Inner Loop will all be retained by the new property owners for other uses, as will the water tank and the depot water column. The turntable will go to the American Farm Heritage Museum in Greenville, Illinois, for their 15-inch gauge American Heritage Railroad.

Signals will be removed by volunteers from Friends of the Railroad, and will be donated to other users including the Wabash, Frisco & Pacific group in Glencoe, Missouri for their 12-inch gauge steam railroad. One of the wig-wags is going to a 16-inch gauge railroad in Kansas City. Right-of-way signs with names of Woods family members will be given to family. Contact Steve Haack if you are interested in any other signage, including mileposts, as they all must be removed. Shop supplies have been donated to the WF&P and other non-railroad non-profits.

The extensive collection of railroadiana and other antiques was removed from the property by the Woods family and consigned to a big auction house. Certain items were distributed to family friends or directed to worthy recipients before the auction. We are happy to report that a nice set of Lima Locomotive Works Shay builders plates from John’s collection were sold directly to Martin Hansen of Bend, Oregon, perhaps the nation’s foremost expert on Shays.

The directors of the Friends group will determine the final disposition of the group’s cash assets, and this could include donations to various steam railroad preservation projects and other rail-related groups deemed worthy of our support. We will continue to update Friends of the ATT&NW as future equipment sales and donations dictate.

When the cash is disbursed, the legal dissolution of the “Friends of the ATT&NW” will be official, and our involvement with this incredible experience will be over. While it is not the ending we hoped for, we can look back on the history of this railroad and feel fortunate that we were part of John’s dream and, after his untimely passing, recipients of the Woods family generosity that kept the railroad intact and running for almost a decade. We all saw the result, whether it was the smiles from visiting school groups, railfans, Crawford County neighbors, Boy Scouts, a Make-A-Wish recipient and others who came from far and wide to see and ride the railroad. Shed no tears. You helped establish “the Arborway” as the gold standard of Grand Scale railroading.

Wear your ATT&W hats and shirts proudly to remind all that you were a part of something very special.

With thanks to all who made it happen,
David Busse
Dan Busse
Steve Haack
Graham Hill
John R. Woods Jr.

Forgive me for bringing up an old thread. I always wanted to visit this miniature railroad but unfortunately that will never happen. Who bought the 4-8-4 Northern 801 so I can at least right behind it?

The 4-8-4 sold a few months ago and went to TX. The owner has purchased a few other notable 15" and 16" gauge pieces of rolling stock recently including Howard Shrader's 16" gauge Hudson, F-units and passenger cars from Michigan. He is preparing to build a 15" gauge railroad I believe.