On July 16, 1998, at 2100 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-181, N2953Y, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when it impacted the terrain during a forced landing resulting from a loss of engine power during a visual approach to Springfield Downtown Airport, near Springfield, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating on an IFR flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight departed from Austin Executive Airpark, near Austin, Texas, at 1708. According to the pilot's written statement, he had preflighted the aircraft and had noted that the fuel tanks were full, indicating 48 usable gallons of fuel. The pilot stated that he had flown the flight at 2550 rpm and had leaned the engine by utilizing an exhaust gas temperature (egt) gauge. The pilot stated that he canceled his IFR flight plan when he made visual contact with the Springfield Downtown Airport. The pilot made an initial call to the potential traffic in the pattern, heard no response, and continued for a straight-in landing on runway 29. The pilot stated approximately 3 miles from the airport he heard another aircraft announcing that they were going to make a straight-in landing for runway 11. Considering the faster traffic, the pilot decided to enter a left downwind to land behind the faster traffic on runway 11. The pilot stated that he had made visual contact with the other aircraft. While positioning the aircraft for a left downwind for runway 11, the pilot lost visual contact with the other aircraft and the airport environment. The pilot stated that he contacted Springfield approach control and asked for a vector back to the airport. The pilot stated that while he was in contact with approach control, that the engine quit suddenly, he switched tanks, and the engine restarted without hesitation. The pilot notified approach control of his fuel situation and approach control communicated to the pilot that he was flying directly over the airport. The pilot stated that he still did not have visual contact with the airport. The engine quit, for the second time, and the pilot executed a forced landing into a field. The pilot stated that he used 3 notches of flaps, tried to keep the wings level, and was aware of some trees that were at the beginning of the field he had selected. The aircraft came to rest on some railroad tracks. Post accident investigation showed that the pilot had been flying for at least 4 hours and 4 minutes at the time of the first engine failure. The fuel tanks were drained, with 1.5 pints of fuel being drained from each wing tank. There was no evidence of a fuel spill at the accident site and the fuel tanks were not compromised during the forced landing. There were no other anomalies found with the aircraft, flight controls, or engine.