This Ten Wheeler type (4-6-0) oil burning locomotive was built for the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad in 1920 at Alco’s Schenectady, NY, works. #360 weighs 166,000 lbs, 120,000 lbs on its 60” drivers. With Walschaert valve gear and 20” x 26” cylinders it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi delivering 29,446 lbs tractive effort.
The TO&E was incorporated in 1910 by the Dierks Lumber Company as an extension of the DeQueen & Eastern Railroad from the Arkansas state line to Valliant, OK. At some point, #360 was transferred to Dierks Lumber at Rich Mountain, AR. It was later donated to the State of Arkansas and it is now on display near the Queen Wilhelmina Inn atop Arkansas's second highest peak in the Ouichita Mountains.
In 1897, Arthur Stilwell, vice president of the Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Gulf Railroad, decided to build the first north-south railroad from Kansas City, MO, to Port Arthur, TX, to provide rail access to the Gulf of Mexico. During routing of the tracks through the Ouachitas, a flat area near the top of 2,681’ high Rich Mountain was brought to the attention of the investors in the KCP&G as a potential site to build a grand retreat to entice railroad patrons to travel the line.
The resort was constructed at a cost of
$100,000. As Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was to be crowned in September 1898 and the railroad was largely financed by Dutch interest, the resort was named "Wilhelmina Inn" in her honour. Patrons rode to the site on carriages running from a train stop at the base of the mountain's north side.
Less than three years later, however, the KCP&G, facing enormous financial troubles, was sold to what is now the Kansas City Southern Railroad who abandoned the inn.
The inn stayed open until 1910 but, after closing, quickly fell into disrepair.
It was not until the late 1950s that the State of Arkansas took an interest in reviving its fortunes after the Queen Wilhelmina State Park was established on the site. The second inn opened
on 22nd June 1963 but was destroyed by fire in 1973. The new lodge opened in 1975 featuring thirty-eight guest rooms, the Queen's Restaurant and a gift shop. Park campsites, hiking trails and spectacular overlooks are just a short walk from the lodge.
