VOLUME 4 September, 1989 NUMBER 4

OFFICERS & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT Al an SchmittVICE-PRESIDENT Clarence PearceSECRETARY-TREASURER . Saundr a SchmittBOARD MEMBERS.... Charl es E. Mahaffey Warren Hal I Richard E. Napper

OFFICE STAFF

SECRETARY Rachel SchmittEXCESS BAGGAGE Sarah Schmitt

ALL ABOARD STAFF

EDITOR Alan SchmittFMIS EDITOR Richard E. NapperDISTRIBUTION Rachel Schmitt Sarah Schmitt

PRINTER A & B Printing

The ALL ABOARD is published monthlyfor members of the FRISCO FOLKS, asupport organization of The FriscoRailroad Museum Inc. The museumfacility is located at 500 Walker St. inAsh Grove, MO. All correspondenceshould be addressed to P.O. Box 276,Ash Grove, MO 65604. All material inthe ALL ABOARD is copyrighted by TheFrisco Railroad Museum Inc. and may notbe reproduced or duplicated in anymanner or form without the expressedwritten consent of the MuseumPresident. The Frisco Railroad MuseumInc. is not affiliated with the St.Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., theBurlington Northern Railroad Co., or anyof its subsidiaries.

MUSEUM DISPATCHBeginning September 1, 1989, themuseum will be observing itswinter hours of operation:

Saturday: 10:00 am to 5:00 pmSunday: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Other times available byappointment. "Admission Free-Donations Appreciated!"

ABOUT THE COVERBeechcraft twin-engine #N6191X,the Frisco's second venture intocorporate flying, 1963. See storyon page 2.

The Museum is pleased toacknowledge the followingmembership renewals in theFRISCO FOLKS:

Nancy McKay FiremanTexasLoren Aldrich FiremanKansasRobert Eckert FiremanMissouriBrad Slone BrakemanMissouriDavid Gaines SwitchmanAlabamaJim Quarles SwitchmanKansasArthur Lindeman SwitchmanMissouri

The Museum is pleased towelcome the following newmembers to the FRISCO FOLKS:

Jim Ketchum ConductorMissouriCurtis Wills BrakemanMissouriMike Cook SwitchmanTexasWilliam Maurer SwitchmanKansas

LOOKING BACKWARD is a monthlyfeature of the ALL ABOARD thattakes a look back through our filesat the people and events thatwere a part of the Frisco 25, 50,and 75 years ago.

25 YEARS — 1964In 1964, a joint study was

initiated to determine thefeasibility of a merger betweenthe Frisco and the Atchison,

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co.Earlier in the year, somepreliminary work had beencompleted concerning some formof consolidation between theFrisco and the Chicago GreatWestern Railway Co.

50 YEARS — 1939In 1939, the Frisco Passenger

Department published apromotional booklet entitled"Comfort and Economy for theThrifty Class of Traveler." Thebooklet extolled the benefits ofFrisco coach service, includingsuch features as air conditioning,tray meal service, free pillows,free baggage allowance up to 150lbs., snack cars, and washroomand toilet facilities.

75 YEARS — 1914In 1914, the Frisco operated a

number of named passengertrains, including the "Texan," the"Texas Limited," the "SouthwestLimited," the "Meteor," the"Memphis Express," the "KansasCity Express," the KansasCity-Florida Special," the"Govenor," and the "Kansas CityMail."

THE MAIL CARThe MAIL CAR is aregular feature ofthe ALL ABOARD inwhich we attempt toanswer some of themany questions thatare mailed to our

R E S E ARCH SERVICE.

If you have a question about theequipment, facilities, oroperation of the Frisco, pleasesend them to the RESEARCHSERVICE. All requests areanswered individually andselected questions will appear inthe MAIL. CAR feature.

QUESTION: Can you tell me which,if any, heavyweight passengercars had the large mural typepictures on the end walls?

ANSWER: Yes! According to ourrecords, in 1945 the followingheavyweight passenger cars hadlarge tinted pictures on the

Frisco Gruman Gulfstream-I, Lambert Airfield,St. Louis, MO, January, 1970. Frisco photo

bulkhead of lounge rooms:

Chair Cars:

758-760-762-763-Enid-Joplin-Ft. Smith-Okmulgee-Wichita.

Coaches:

1053-1060-1063-1069-1071-1073-1074-1107-1108-1214.

Coach-Snack-Lounge Cars:1601-1603-1606.

FLYING ON THEFRISCO

Question: Did the Frisco everoperate any airplanes? Answer:Of course not! The Frisco was arailroad!! It operated trains!!! Itnever had any airplanes... until1963!!!!

Concerned with the rising costof employee time, wages, andtraveling expenses, in 1963, theFrisco entered into the era of airtravel when a small 560Commander business plane wasleased. Initially viewed as acost/time managementexperiment, the plane soon provedto be such an advantage that laterthat year, the company purchaseda larger, five-passenger, twin-engine Beechcraft.

Early in 1964 it became obviousthat a five-passenger model wasnot sufficient to accomodate thegrowing demands for corporate airtravel. Consequently, in July,1964, a twelve-passenger DC-3was added to the fleet. It quicklyproved its worth to time-scarceemployees and, according tocompany records, from the first ofAugust, 1964, to December, 1969,the plane logged over 4,000 hourscovering well over 3 million miles.

In January, 1970, the agingDC-3 was replaced with a newtwelve-passenger GrumanGulf stream-I. While the seatingcapacity remained the same, thenew craft afforded its passengersa more comfortable flight in apressurized cabin, and the amountof travel time between points wasfurther decreased. The timesaving efficiency of the plane wasmost apparent when compared totrain travel time between similarpoints, as follows:

St. Louis to Springfield, adistance of 198 miles:

Train Time: 6 hoursPlane Time: 43 minutes

St. Louis to Oklahoma City, adistance of 466 miles:

Train Time: 13 hoursPlane Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

St. Louis to Dallas, a distance of556 miles:

Train Time: 15 hoursPlane Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

The plane had a full time flightcrew and two employees, one inSt. Louis and one in Springfield,who were responsible forcoordinating requests for the useof the plane and its scheduling.Such schedules might call fortransporting a survey team to adistant point, or a group to somecity for meetings, or members ofthe Industrial DevelopmentDepartment with clients to look ata new plant location, or for anynumber of other groups thatneeded to cover a long distance inminimum time.

At the time of the Frisco/BNmerger. the p lane and its crew

were transfered to St. Paul andits final disposition is currentlyunknown.

THEOKLAHOMA CITY

Par t 1

Between 1912 and 1967, therewere three Oklahoma City's on theFrisco. One was station G542 onthe Oklahoma Subdivision of theSouthwestern Division and theother two were Frisco passengercars. This is the first of twoarticles profiling "The OklahomaCity" cars.

The first "Oklahoma City"passenger car on the Friscoroster started out as Diner #637,built by American Car & FoundryCo. at their St. Charles, MO, plantin May, 1912. It was one ofeleven diners purchased fromACF, in two orders. The firstorder of six were built inSeptember, 1910, Lot #5523, andwere numbered 630-635. Thesecond order of five wascompleted in May, 1912, Lot#6366, and included units636-640. According to ourrecords, these were the first fulldiners in service on the Frisco.

Number 637 was an all steelcar, 81 ft. long, weighed 187,000lbs., and cost $18,765.00. It wasequipped with full kitchenfacilities and had a seatingcapacity of thirty, arranged in sixtables for four and six for two.

In June, 1934, the SpringfieldWest Coach Shops rebuilt #637 asLounge Car "Oklahoma City." Itprovided plush seatingaccomodations for thirty-six pluseight at two card tables and oneat a writing desk. The "Oklahoma

"Oklahoma City" West Coach Shops June 30, 1934 Frisco photo

City" and sister rebuilt Lounge"Tulsa" were placed in service onthe "Meteor", trains 9-10.

In April, 1943, due to increasedpassenger demands brought on byWorld War II, the "Oklahoma City"was converted to a Chair Car,equipped with streamlinedskirting, and painted in theZephyr Blue and White war livery.Its rebuilt seating capacity wasfifty-eight. The car operated asa Chair Car until December, 1945,when it was re-configured as alounge car and repainted PullmanGreen.

In May, 1948, the Friscopurchased a new streamlinedDiner-Lounge-Observation Carfrom Pullman, #1551, and named itthe "Oklahoma City." EDITOR'SNOTE: This third Oklahoma Citycar will be profiled in Part 2 of

the "OKLAHOMA CITY" featurenext month. The old "OklahomaCity" car was changed on theroster to Lounge Car #1401.According to our records, the#1401, along with sister car#1402, were the only Lounge Carsnumbered in the 1400 series.Other cars in the series includedBusiness Car #1400 andstreamlined Sleeper Cars Nos.1450-1466.

In October, 1951, a buffet wasadded to #1401 and in June, 1965,it was repainted red and gray"camouflage" for use with the newstreamlined equipment. InDecember, 1957, the car wasrepainted Pullman Green andshortly thereafter it was removedfrom regular service and used forextra duties. In October, 1965,#637/"Oklahoma City"/#1401 was

sold for scrap to Midwest SteelCo.

EDITOR'S NOTE: There were alsothree Tulsa's on the Frisco.Tulsa, OK, Station G424 on theCherokee Subdivision of theSouthwestern Division and two"Tulsa" passenger cars. The first"Tulsa Car" was originally Diner#639. Its history closelyparallels that of the "OklahomaCity" car, as follows:

Rebuilt as Lounge Car 6-1934Rebuilt as Chair Car 4-1943Rebuilt as Lounge Car 12-1945Renumbered #1402 5-1948Repainted red & gray 4-1956Repainted green 11-1957Sold for scrap 10-1967

"Oklahoma City" Lounge Car West Coach ShopsJune 30, 1934 Frisco photo

"Oklahoma City" Chair Car West Coach Shops

April 12, 1943 Frisco photo

SLSF 3900

DEPRESSED CENTER FLATCAR #3900

In June, 1953, there appearedon Frisco property what would bea one-of-a-kind piece of freightequipment. Car #3900 was a 250Mcapacity depressed center flat cardesigned to transport high, wide,and/or heavy loads such as thepower transformer picturedbelow. The 57'9" drop centercasting was manufactured by theGeneral Steel Casting Co. and thethree axle trucks were suppliedby Buckeye Steel Casting Co. ofOhio. The car was assembled inMay, 1963, at the Frisco Yale, TN,shops at a total cost of$25,915.00.

The depressed center sectionwas 21' long, with a 2' 2 1/4" dropfrom the top line of the car. Thebottom of the drop center wasonly 7 3/8" from the top of therails. The end sections over thetrucks were planked with 2"x 8"timbers. The center section endswere slotted to reduce weight andthe floor was equipped with holesto facilitate tie down attachment.The car was also equipped withdrop hand brakes on each end.

In 1980, following theFrisco/BN merger, #3900 wasrenumbered BN #631014 andremained in service until it wasretired in 1984.

NEW CAR SHOP

There are at least twopossibilities for modeling #3900.You can start with either theCannonball Car Shops 50'depressed center flat car kit#197-44327 ($9.00) or a similarmodel made by Roco, #625-48995($7.49). Both kits appear to havethe correct trucks and both willhave to be lengthened for use as#3900. The car was paintedfreight car yellow, a close matchto Floquil Reefer Yellow #110031.The trucks and lettering wereblack. The "SL-SF 3900" was in 7°'letters, 2" from the bottom of thecar. Good Luck on modeling thisunique piece of Frisco equipment!

SLSF #3900 Frisco photo

BALDWIN VO-1 0 0 0SWITCHER

The first diesel locomotives inservice on the Frisco wereBaldwin-built VO-1000 Switchengines, No. series 200-237.Delivered between November 1941and June, 1946, twenty-two of theseries arrived in a blue and whitelivery with red lettering. (SeeALL ABOARD, 'New Car Shop,"January, 1989, p.4, for blue andwhite painting information)

Eventually all the units .wererepainted in the black and yellowcolor scheme with many still inservice when the livery was onceagain changed to the mandarinorange and white. The April,1984, issue of MODEL RAILROADER has an excellentarticle by William Hitchnerdescribing how a VO-1000 can bekitbashed from an Athearn S-12powered Switcher #140-3700 withadditional parts from a secondAthearn S-12 shell #140-37200.

To model your unit in the blackand yellow livery, paint the bodyand trucks with Floquil EngineBlack #110010, and the handrailsand grab irons Reefer Yellow#110031. The stripes are from aMicroscale Katy diesel decal set#87-0181 and the numbers and"FRISCO' are also Microscale#87-0085. If you choose to addKadee couplers, you will need thelong shank #16 style. Good Luck!

V0-1000 #223 Frisco photo VO-1000 #225 R.E. Napper photoSLSF #3900 with load Frisco photo

Doodlebugging On The Frisco

Motor Car #2111 Poplar Bluff, MO, 1936 Issac Lavergne photc

Like its sister car #2110,Frisco motor car #2111 has aunique and interesting history.There were two doodlebugs thatcarried the #2111 designation.The first #2111, serial #3729,was delivered to Frisco propertyin September, 1912 and used forextra and excursion service.

The car was a 70' 8"Baggage-Coach combination witha rear vestibule entrance. The allsteel body was manufactured byWasson, Model #10400, trucks byALCo, and the 175 H.P. GM-16-C1engine and 205D traction motorswere built by G.E. The interiorfinish of the car was the standardmahogany paneling with yellowpine floor. It was equipped withtwenty-two seats that wouldaccomodate forty-fourpassengers. During the 1913-16reorganization, #2111 was sold tothe Macon & Birmingham Railroadand was renumbered #10.

The second #2111, identical inmodel and accomodations to thefirst #2111, was originally builtin May, 1913, and purchased bythe Chicago, Peoria, & St. Louis

Railroad Co. as car #104, serial#3744. In November, 1924, the carwas sold at a forclosure sale tothe Okmulgee & Northern Railroad(eventually controlled by theFrisco in 1964) and renumbered#111. In the spring of 1925, thecar again changed ownership this

time to the Jonesboro, Lake City,& Eastern Railroad, an eighty-sixmile short line in NorthwestArkansas. The car retained itsnumber 111. On November 1,1925, the Frisco acquired all theoutstanding bonds, stock, andproperties of the J.L.C.& E.,including motor car #111. InDecember, 1926, #111 wasreconditioned by the Frisco andassigned the number #2111, thedesignation it carried until beingretired from revenue service anddismantled in February, 1945.

THE FR I SCO FAMILY

On Friday evening, November 6,1931, radio station KWKH atShreveport, LA, broadcast the"HISTORY OF THE FRISCO." Thisis Part 10 of that broadcast.

"Undaunted by this series ofreceiverships, the new program ofimprovements, and the systemwas thoroughly rehabilitated fromone end to the other. Principal

lines were ballasted, heavierrails were laid, bridges rebuiltor sometimes replaced by entirelynew structures, and heaviermotive power and improved rollingstock purchased. This program ofimprovement, involving arexpenditure of many millions ofdollars, has placed the Frisco itthe front ranks among therailroads of the middle andsouthwest.

"You will recall that back in theearly days of 1868 which we havejust mentioned, the old SouthwestPacific Railway Companyannounced its intention ofbuilding a line, connecting themiddle southwestern section ofthe country with tide water. Thatidea persisted through all theyears and the present name of thecompany the St. Louis-SanFrancisco Railway Company showsthat its owners still had faith inthe company's ability toeventually reach tide water."

To be continued

From the collection of Kevin Johnson

DOWN AT THE DEPOT

Neosho, Missour i

Between 1870 and 1886, theAtlantic & Pacific Railroadcompleted 145 miles of singletrack railroad southwest fromPierce City, MO, to Sapulpa, I.T.(Indian Territory/ Oklahoma).Along this newly completed line,approximately sixteen miles fromthe Missouri-Oklahoma Stateline,was located Neosho, MO,Station G310 on the CherokeeSubdivision of the SouthwesternDivision. The Oklahoma sectionof the Atlantic & Pacific waseventually purchased by theFrisco on December 18, 1887.

In 1870, a 90'4"x 26'2" brickdepot was built at Neosho. Itwas set on a stone foundation,had 13" thick walls, and a 1/3pitch gable roof ccvered withwood shingles. The first floorwas divided into a waiting roomon the north end, large ticketoffice in the middle, and freightand baggage facilities on thesouth end. A 15'x 24' room on thesecond level was used for storageand, occassionally, as livingquarters for the resident agent.The waiting room and ticket officehad 11'4" ceilings, the freightroom 13'7", and the second storyroom was a shorter 8'5". Thetrackside platform was brick witha concrete curb and the front ofthe depot featured a largecovered wooden platform. Thisstation served the travelingneeds of Neosho residents forover fifty years and is, accordingto legend, the depot upon whichwas tacked the original coon skinthat later became the pattern forthe Frisco logo. (See "The Legendof the Coon Skin," ALL ABOARD,Vol.1, No.3, August, 1986)

In 1926, the old depot wasenlarged and extensivelyremodeled into a Spanish stylecombination station. The waitingroom was enlarged by six feet,ticket office reducedproportionately, and insiderestrooms were added to thenorthwest corner. The baggageand freight room remained thesame size, with a raised platformadded for more efficient loadingand unloading of freight. Thesecond floor room was removedand the roof pitch was changed to

From the collection of H.D. Conner

1/4, covered with red tile. Theinterior and exterior walls wereremodeled with stuco, plaster,and a brick wainscot.

During its tenure of operation,the Neosho depot was served by anumber of trains including the"Meteor," the "Texas Special," the"Bluebonnet," the "Will Rogers,"the "Sunnyland," and the"Oklahoman." The last Friscopassenger train left the Neoshodepot on May, 13, 1967.

THE WHYTE SYSTEM

In the late 1800's, an engineernamed Frederic M. Whytedeveloped a system forclassifying the many types ofsteam locomotives that werebeing produced. His system wasbased on the total number ofwheels. The first numberindicated the number of wheels inthe leading truck, the secondnumber listed the driving wheels,and the third number was for thewheels on the trailing axle.

This is the eighth in a series ofarticles profiling the enginetypes of the Whyte system thatwere in service on the Frisco.

In 1903, the Atchison, Topeka,and Santa Fe took delivery of anew type of steam locomotivedesigned to provide high tractiveforce at slow speeds for use onsteep grades. Thus, a new classof locomotive was created knownas the 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" typeengines.

Between 1916 and 1918, theFrisco added sixty 2-10-2locomotives to its roster. AllBaldwin built, Nos. 1-3 were builtin 1916, Nos. 4-41 in 1917, andNos. 42-60 were delivered in1918. All sixty units were coalfired and were equipped withmechanical stokers for use onheavy trains on steep grades.When first placed in service, theengines were assigned to theheavy-grade territory between St.Louis and Springfield, Springfieldand Thayer, and Memphis andBirmingham. Between 1920 and1930, most of the 2-10-2's wereequipped with trailing truckboosters. Those not equipped

were assigned as helper engineson the grade from Newburg toDixon, MO. The last 2-10-2's inservice as Santa Fe type engineswere Nos. 19 and 40, assigned tothe Ft. Leonard Wood Branch, atwenty-mile line that left themain line at Bundy Junction 2.5miles west of Newburg. Bothengines were removed fromservice in 1945.

It is interesting to note thatonly twenty-six of the 2-10-2engines on the roster werescrapped!(Nos.2-3-5-7-10-11-13-14-16-1922-24-25-27-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-36-37-39-40-54)

Between July, 1936 andNovember, 1941, the remainingthirty-four units were rebuilt, bythe Springfield, MO, Shops, as4-8-2 "Mountain" type enginesseries 4300-4310 and 4400-4422,as follows:

#1 to #4415 9/1941#4 to #4407 6/1940#6 to #4413 6/1941#8 to #4423 3/1942#9 to #4421 2/1942#12 to #4417 10/1941#15 to #4414 6/1941#17 to #4418 11/1941#18 to #4406 2/1940#20 to #4408 7/1940#21 to #4416 9/1941

#23 to #4409 9/1940#26 to #4405 3/1940#28 to #4411 4/1941#38 to #4420 11/1941#41 to #4410 2/1941#42 to #4400 7/1939#43 to #4309 8/1937#44 to #4310 8/1937#45 to #4419 11/1947#46 to #4401 9/1939#47 to #4308 7/1937#48 to #4304 5/1937#49 to #4303 5/1937#50 to #4412 5/1941#51 to #4302 4/1937#52 to #4402 10/1939#53 to #4403 11/1939#55 to #4301 4/1937#56 to #4404 12/1939#57 to #4300 7/1936#58 to #4305 6/1937#59 to #4306 7/1937#60 to #4307 7/1937

The last 4300's in service onthe Frisco were Nos. 4300,4306-4309, all of which were soldfor scrap on October 20, 1952.The last 4400's on the rosterwere 4405 and 4407, scrapped onDecember 19,1952.

NEXT MONTH IN THEALL ABOARD

The "Oklahoma City" Part 2, DanaRamps, Whyte System 4-8-2"Mountain" engine, ModelingSD40-2 #951, plus much more!

Frisco 4-8-2 #4400 August 1, 1939 St. Louis, MOR.J. Foster photo C.T. Felstead collection