Fayette Junction is the name of a small railroad switchyard on the south side of Fayetteville where the mainline of the Frisco Railway was intersected by the Fayetteville and Little Rock R.R., better known as the St. Paul Branch, which went east from Fayetteville deep into Madison County.
The main line of Frisco runs north-south parallel to Razorback Road. The St. Paul Branch went almost due east. Remnants of the junction still exist at the corner of Cato Springs and Vale Avenue, although the spur line to St. Paul has been long gone.
Wouldn't it be great if Washington County and Madison county were to work together to acquire the right-of-way to the old rail line, and turn it into a hike-and-bike trail?
Posted by: David Orr | October 11, 2011 at 10:06 PM
I've thought many times that the old St. Paul Branch would be a great bicycle path and could also extend south to Cass and Turner Bend if the bed of the old Black Mountain and Eastern were also used.
Nearly all the right-of-way is in private hands now and would take awhile to acquire.
The Ozark and Cherokee Central roadbed west through Farmington, Prairie Grove, Lincoln and on to Tahlequah would be another great one.
Posted by: Charlie Alison | October 12, 2011 at 08:31 AM