ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY; Volume 29, Winter 1970, p. 327 The Arkansas Tap Line Cases: A Study in Commerce Regulation   By LEE A. DEW* Kentucky Wesleyan College   RAILROADING WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST BUSINESSES IN ARKANSAS IN THE EARLY YEARS of the Twentieth Century. Thousands of miles of track traversed the state, and at any given hour of the day there were dozens of trains in operation. This meant an investment in the state of millions of dollars and other millions paid in wages each year to Arkansas citizens. The state's railroads could be divided into four basic categories. Most spectacular were the trunk lines which bisected Arkansas from every direction. The huge Iron Mountain System (Missouri Pacific), with its more than 1,000 miles of track in Arkansas, was the giant of the trunk lines, but the Rock Island, Cotton Belt, Frisco and Kansas City Southern all furnished through passenger and freight service linking the state with the rest of the nation (1). Second in importance to the trunk lines were the independent railroads. These lines provided a variety of services to the areas through which they passed. Some, like the Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern, were primarily shortline local carriers, hauling the products and people of the region they served and depending primarily upon on-line business. _____________________ * The author is Professor of History at Kentucky Wesleyan College; he formerly taught at Arkansas State University. 1. Statistical information on Arkansas railroads can be found in the Reports of the Railroad Commission of Arkansas, 1900 and after; the Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of Arkansas; Poor's Manual of Railroads (New York, 1871-1924); and Statistics of Railways in the United States, (Washington, D. C., Interstate Commerce Commission, issued annually).           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next Page