Augusta, the county seat of Woodruff County, Arkansas, was a natural riverboat landing spot on the navigable White River.[1][2] After the chaos of the American Civil War and its immediate aftermath, the town entered its greatest period of prosperity in the 1870s as a year-round riverboat transport point for a wide variety of goods, serving vessels from as far away as Memphis and New Orleans.[2] Thus, when railroads began entering the county in the late 1800s, the good people of Augusta opted out of the apparently-unnecessary innovation and allowed their town to be bypassed by the tracks.[2] When river traffic began to decline, the citizens realized their mistake, and decided to build their own railroad to link to the national grid.[2]
The Augusta and White River Railroad was incorporated in 1886 under the laws of Arkansas.[3] It constructed approximately 1.25 miles of mainline track between Augusta and a point south-southeast of town known as New Augusta, where the railway interchanged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad line between Bald Knob, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee.[3][4] Whether or not relating to the mistake of failing to get railroad routed through their town earlier, the nickname of the railway was the “Little Dummy Line.”[2]
This arrangement lasted until 1892.[3] In May of that year, a company called the Augusta Tramway and Transfer Company was incorporated under Arkansas law.[3] It received and started operating the assets of the earlier company while extending the tracks slightly, adding about a quarter of a mile to the mainline.[3] However, this entity went into receivership on February 22, 1916.[3]
The railroad was bought out of a receiver's sale on December 20, 1917, by individuals who took over operation of the line from the receiver on January 1 of 1918, and who finally got around to officially incorporating the Augusta Railroad on May 8 of that year.[3] A snapshot of the railway on June 30, 1918, shows a single-track, standard-gauge mainline grown to 1.649 miles, plus 1.005 miles of yard tracks and sidings.[3] The railroad had two steam locomotives, and also possessed a passenger car.[3] The principal offices were in Augusta.[3]
The railroad ran in this fashion for many decades; however, it ceased operations in 1958[2] or 1959.[5]