Origins The initial push to construct the JLC&E came from timber owners and land speculators in northeast Arkansas, all of whom saw the availability of railroad transportation as a necessary ingredient to harvesting timber. The group procured a charter from the
Arkansas state legislature in 1897 to construct a railroad in Craighead and Mississippi Counties and began construction soon after. The largest hurdle was constructing bridges in the "
sunken lands" east of Jonesboro, but the company was able to run its first train from Nettleton (now a suburb of Jonesboro) to
Lake City in November of that year. By the time the railroad line was extended to Blytheville in the summer of 1901, several large sawmills were either in operation or being built along the tracks. In early 1911, the JLC&E was purchased by
Robert E. Lee Wilson, a prominent landowner who resided in
Wilson, Arkansas.
Wilson Northern Railway Separately, R.E. Wilson interests incorporated the Wilson Northern Railway (“WNR”) on December 28, 1904 under laws of Arkansas. On January 2, 1905, the WNR purchased an existing 10-mile private logging rail line, constructed as early as 1884, that was owned by Wilson. That line extended northward from a sawmill also controlled by Wilson interests at a location now known as
Wilson, Arkansas, to
Keiser, Arkansas. It then had constructed on its behalf an additional 7 miles of track from Keiser to
Ross, Arkansas, where it had a connection with the JLC&E. The WNR also purchased lands for a proposed extension from Wilson, Arkansas to a point known as Bridge Junction, Arkansas; but, the extension was never built. On February 5, 1912, the JLC&E absorbed the WNR by purchase.
Chickasawba Railroad Company The Chickasawba Railroad Company was incorporated October 13, 1902 under Arkansas law. Its stated goal was to construct a road from
Blytheville, Arkansas eastward to Barfield Landing on the
Mississippi River, and it actually built a 9-mile line from Blytheville to the river town of Barfield. On June 24, 1925, this was absorbed into the JLC&E.
Sale The JLC&E railroad was purchased by the
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco) in 1925, and operated as a Frisco branch line into the 1970s. All of the former JLC&E tracks have been dismantled, except for a short segment between
Blytheville and
Armorel, Arkansas. ==Surviving equipment==