The Benton & Southern Railroad is an HO Scale Class 3 Shortline railroad serving communities in Arkansas and Louisiana. The railroad began in 1977 as a 12-mile line operating between Benton and Sheridan, Arkansas. When the Rock Island shut down in 1980, the B&S grew to a 300-mile system with the addition of the former Rock Island mainline from Little Rock, Arkansas to Alexandria, Louisiana, with a branchline diverging near Benton, Arkansas running southwest to serve the communities of Hot Springs and Malvern, Arkansas. In addition, the Benton & Southern took over operations on a former Arkansas Valley Railroad branchline between Oark, Arkansas and Clinton, Arkansas with that operation’s headquarters at Clarksville, Arkansas.  

The railroad occupies a 13'x17' room in the basement of my home. It is a single-deck, around the walls style layout with a three-track hidden staging yard running behind the main layout to give a continuous running option.  The modeled portion of the railroad covers the area around Clarksville, Arkansas on the former Arkansas Valley Clinton Branch and is modeled in two distinct eras... modern day and in the mid-1980's depending on which equipment I’m using. 

In addition to B&S trains, Arkansas Valley Railroad locomotives are often seen as run-thru power on unit grain trains.  

The Benton & Southern layout was shut down in October 2024. It may come back to life in the future, but not sure when.