Turntable: Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railroad, Highway 23, Eureka Springs, Carroll County, AR

Significance: The Eureka Springs and North Arkansas (ES&NA) Railroad was created in 1981 on the site of the old Eureka Springs Railroad. The Eureka Springs Railroad, formed in 1882, served as a branch line connecting the tourist town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, with the St. Louis and San Francisco Line in Seligman, Missouri. The original Eureka Springs Railroad was disbanded in 1961, leaving only a dilapidated depot building in Eureka Springs and a railroad bet that was without rails or bridges. In 1981, the Dortch family of central Arkansas formed the Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railroad and began the process of rebuilding an abandoned legend into a functioning railroad. The current railroad now functions as a tourist attraction for railroad fans of all ages. The EX&NA line features on diesel and three steam locomotives, many railroad artifacts and pieces of equipment of historical interest, and a locomotive turntable. The original turntable was moved to Harrison, AR, in 1912 and was scrapped when the old Eureka Springs line was abandoned. When the Eureka Springs and North Arkansas line was opened, a replacement turntable was acquired from the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad which had been in use in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where it had been built in 1910. The Turntable itself was made by the Philadelphia Turntable Company and weighs approximately 75,000 pounds. It is a balance type turntable on which a locomotive must be well centered before it is turned. The turntable was originally turned by an air motor that was powered by air pressure from the locomotive or from the roundhouse air compressor. The turntable was hauled in by truck from Fort Smith and reinstalled in almost exactly the same location as the original. For a time the turntable was turned by hand but was soon converted to electric power in the form of a 20 hp electric motor.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N929
Survey number: HAER AR-60