Trains were once the fastest and most practical way to travel. Beginning in the 16th century with train carriages pulled on tracks by horses or oxen, trains were clearly a superior mode of travel for long distances and large groups of people. The big question was how to power them. The use of draft (pulling) animals made sense, since that was already the way that individuals and small groups traveled in coaches. In 1804, Richard Trevithick built the first steam-powered locomotive in Wales. The car with the engine is still called a locomotive, but now they may be powered by internal combustion engines, electric engines, or even electromagnets.
The Golden Age of train travel was from the 1880s through the 1920s, when cars began to be widely used. We took an excursion train built in the 1920s, the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, from Springdale to Van Buren. The original cars provide a look back a century to see what train travel used to be like.
This is a common coach, a regular seat on the Golden Age car.
This is a club car with a beautiful pressed metal ceiling. It seems a little strange to see people in modern clothes here — but it was very fun to get to ride in these antique train cars.
Train culture
Taking a train used to be a glamorous thing to do. People dressed up, they had special luggage called “train cases,” and it was common to use sleeping cars, dining cars, and other special kinds of accommodation. A train might be a lot like a hotel.
Check out our slideshow of special train tableware. Each railroad line would have its own. We had morning and afternoon meal trays on the train, but they arrived in disposable dishes with paper napkins. We enjoyed them anyway.
Train stations were often large, beautiful buildings. The Van Buren train station at the top of this post is a reconstruction of the 1920s station. It’s not very big, since Van Buren is a small town, but it is beautiful.
It even includes a museum.
One of the most interesting things we saw was a calculator. We thought it might be a typewriter or a telegraph machine, but the sign in the museum explained that it was a calculator.
The museum also showed train schedules from across the country. The MK&T schedule included “Indian Territory,” the old name for Oklahoma.
There were also artifacts from the 1920s, including handmade dolls, sheet music, and more.
What would passengers have seen in Van Buren?
Passengers coming to Van Buren, Arkansas, in the 1920s would have seen this building, the Crawford Country Bank.
This 19th century building would have been there, too.
The King Opera House is another building they would have seen. It has a ghost! The video below tells the story and also shows the wheels of a train.
We saw plenty of modern things in Van Buren, too, including a very fun bookstore.
What did we see from the train?
Trains have nice big windows.
Our view from the train was mostly beautiful trees and hills.
We did see the Beard and Lady, another historic haunted building, as we went through Chester, Arkansas.
It was also interesting to see the towns where we live from a different perspective. Sometimes we could say, “Hey, I live right over there!” but sometimes we didn’t recognize the parts of town we were going through even though we live there.
Most of us on this trip had never ridden a train before. It was fun — a comfortable, slow way to travel that lets passengers enjoy the scenery. It was particularly fun to step back a century on a historic train like this one. Rebecca can hear the train whistle from her house, so that added to the fun. Nico said she still prefers airplanes. What about you?
