IN 1962, the Frisco had in service five automobile handling facilities located at St. Louis,MO, Tulsa, OK, Irving, TX, Birmingham, AL, and Floydada, TX. This is the third in a series offeatures profiling the automobile facilities with layout diagrams and photos.

RAMP - AREA DETAILS:AUTOMOBILE PARKING CAPACITY: 360TRAILER TRANSFER RAMP ADJACENT TO RAIL RAMP IN PAVED AREABUCK LOADER FOR BI -LEVEL AND TRI-LEVEL OPERATIONMULTI - LEVEL CAR CAPACITY: 16 UNITS PER SETUPFACILITY ALSO HANDLES °STANDARD° PIGGY -BACK LOADSFACILITY FULLY LIGHTED- 24-HOUR OPERATION FRISCO AUTOMOBILE RAMP

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

Frisco's Birmingham, AL automobile unloading ramp and storage area. Frisco photo

In August 1942, the Frisco took delivery of its first 4-8-4 Northern class steam locomotive, No.4503. The Northern's were the largest and most powerful class of steam motive power to operateon Frisco rails. The engine and tender were 105 feet long, stood sixteen feet tall, weighed a totalof 820,600 lbs., and had a tractive effort of 71,200 lbs. The tender carried 18,000 gallons of waterand 24 tons of coal.

In August 1943, the Frisco took delivery of its last 4-8-4 Northern class steam locomotive, No.4524. (Nos. 4500-4502 were oil burners, delivered for use in passenger service in November 1942.)Our Classic Frisco photo is a rare, possibly one-of-a-kind, view of 4503 and 4524 double-headinga freight consist, date and location unknown. Photo submitted by Paul North

50 YEARS - 1944In 1944, the Frisco passengerdepartment inaugurated a newcustomer service program to assistwar time travelers. The new DepotPassenger Agents were located atmajor terminals such as Tulsa, OKand Dallas, TX, and according to anarticle in the February-March issueof the Frisco First magazine, theirjob description included, "... a walkinginformation bureau, railroadrepresentative, and - if need be - nurse,consultant, and fairy god mother tolost and bewildered travelers."Dressed in blue uniforms with red &white Frisco Lines hat & sleevepatches, their job also included, " theinspection of coaches to see that theyare kept neat and orderly." Accordingto the Frisco First article, the Friscowas one of the first, if not the first,railroad to provide such a service.

Frisco USRA Box Car #128522, Springfield, MO, March 7, 1935. Frisco photo

75 YEARS - 1919In 1919, the Frisco purchased 3,500 40 ton capacity steel underframe doublesheathed box cars, series 127000-130499, from the United States RailroadAdministration for an average cost of $2,900.00 per unit. The cars were builtby Liberty Car Co., Standard Steel Car Co., American Car & Foundry Co., KeithCar Mfg. Co., Pacific Car & Foundry Co., Lenoir Car Works, and Laconia CarCo.

Frisco Depot Passenger Agents, February, 1944. Frisco photo

25 YEARS - 1969

In 1969, Richard C. Grayson was elected President of the Frisco, succeedingJack E. Gilliland who had held the position since 1965. Mr. Grayson began hisrailroading career, all with the Frisco, in May, 1941 as a Brakeman. Prior tohis becoming President, he served as a Conductor, Train Dispatcher,Trainmaster, Assistant Superintendent, Superintendent, Assistant GeneralManager, Vice-President & General Manager of the Frisco TransportationCompany, General Sales Manager, and Vice President of Operations. InNovember, 1969, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer and in December,1973, became Chairman of the Frisco Board of Directors. Mr. Grayson iscurrently retired, is a member of the museum's Frisco Folks, Board of Directors,and major benefactor of our Springfield relocation project.

One of the most interesting,unique, and often underrated facetsof Frisco equipment and operationswas the Company Service Depart-ment... those men and machines thatmaintained the track, roadbed, right-of-way, bridges, structures, etc., all ofwhich was essential to the successfuloperation of the railroad.

The uniqueness of the Frisco'scompany service was most apparentin the vast assortment of both special-ity and recycled equipment, that wasassigned to an equally vast assort-ment of uses on the system. OurResearch Service Company ServiceEquipment Conversion Roster con-tains close to 1,000 listings of equip-ment that was recycled and convertedfor company service use. Add that tothe hundreds of speciality units, and

you have a CS fleet that was indeedan intricate part of the Frisco.

Because we believe it deservesrecognition for the role it played inthe history of the Frisco, with thisissue of the All Aboard, we begin anew regular feature that will profileselected pieces of Frisco companyservice equipment. If you have oneyou are interested in, please contactthe museum office and we will do ourbest to include it in future issues.

SL SFWEED SPRAY CAR 105502

Frisco Weed Spray (WeedBurner) Car #105502 began its railservice in August 1935, as one of twoCoach-Mail-Baggage cars, Nos. 82 &

83, built by the Frisco in theirSpringfield, MO, Coach Shops. The79' all steel cars weighed 167,900 lbs.and included seating for sixteen inthe coach section, a 15' mailcompartment, and a 39' baggagesection.

In March and April, 1940, thecars were streamlined and painted inthe war years Zephyr Blue paintscheme for service on the Frisco's newFirefly trains between Kansas Cityand Oklahoma City, OK. No. 82 wasin the inaugural consist of the train.

In September, 1947, #83 wasrepainted in the standard PullmanGreen livery. In May, 1951, #82 wasalso repainted, and both carsremained in revenue service untilAugust, 1960.

In December, 1960, #82 wasscrapped and #83 was converted toWeed Spray Car #105502. It remainedin that capacity until 1972 when itwas set aside and ultimately scrapped.

SLSF Weed Spray Cur #105502, Springfield, MO, November 18, 1971. John C. La Rue, Jr. collection.

Frisco SW1500 #357, Tulsa, OK, November, 1980. Troy Botts photo

Frisco MP15 #361, Tulsa, OK, September, 1980. Troy Botts photo

As opposed to many railroads,the Frisco had a relatively largenumber of modern, second generationdiesel yard switchers on their rosterin 1980 at the time of the merger withthe BN. Throughout its modernhistory, the Frisco needed a relativelylarge number of switchers for arailroad of their size because of thenumber of large cities and interchangepoints on the SLSF system - this atestament to the valuable routes thatthe Frisco enjoyed. And, in the late1960's and early 1970's, the largeroster of first generation Frisco dieselswitchers - the early Alco's, Baldwin's,EMD's and F-M's we have recentlybeen exploring in Roster Tales, werestarting to show their age and wereready for replacement.

In late 1968, the Frisco beganreceiving a new, modern, secondgeneration switcher - EMD's popularSW1500. This locomotive waspowered by EMD's then new "645"series diesel engine in a V-12configuration. The series number is

in design, it was a bigger power plantper cylinder than its first generationcounterpart. The SW1500 generated1500 H.P. The Frisco bought forty-sixSW1500's between 1968 and 1973,and assigned them to road numbersSLSF 315-360. These numberscontinued the number series startedby the earlier, first generation EMDSW7's (SLSF 300-304) and EMDSW9's (SLSF 305-314).

The new SW1500's quicklyproved to be popular and reliable, andcould be seen system-wide at any largeSLSF city or terminal. They were allequipped for multiple unit (MU)operation, which made them muchmore versatile than Frisco's firstgeneration switchers, which weregenerally unable to operate in MUfashion. Only SW9's (SLSF 305-313)and, late in its life, Alco "HeadlessHumpster" S-2b SLSF 292 had MUcontrols. In addition to MU capability,the Frisco SW1500's had a top speedrating of 65 MPH, which allowed themto operate out on the railroad fromtime to time, either alone or in multiple

based around the number of cubicinches displaced by each cylinder.EMD's vastly popular first generationline of diesel switchers and freightand passenger road locomotiveswerepowered by EMD's "567" series engine,so the new engine was not only newer

BN SW1500 #52, ex-Frisco #347, in service at 19th St. Yard, Kansas City, MO,May 26, 1990. Richard Napper photo

lash-ups with other road power. Thepopularity of the SW1500's is givenevidence by the fact that all forty-sixremain gainfully employed by the BNtoday, as BN 20-65.

I always felt the SW1500'swere attractive locomotives, though anumber of people describe themotherwise, perhaps because of thelarge number of them (boring!) on theFrisco roster. Athearn makes anexcellent HO model of the SW1500,though you will need to replace theFlexicoil truck side frames on thestock model with Athearn's AAR TypeA side frames used on their SW1000model. The replacement side framesare readily available and are easilychanged over.

Following the SW1500purchase, the Frisco added five moreunits in 1975, but this time selectedthe EMD MP15 - numbering themSLSF 361-365. These five newlocomotives were also powered by a1500 H.P., "645" V-12 diesel, and borea strong resemblance to the SW1500's.But, the basis for their design wasquite different - they were intended to

be end-cab switchers which weretailored for use not in yards, but outon the road. They were about threefeet longer than the SW1500's, androde on EMD's Blomberg road truck,like that used on EMD F and GPseries road power. The MP15's,though just as useful as the SW1500'sin yards and transfer service, provedto be very unpopular out on the road,as they delivered a rough ride, hadrestricted cab space because of thesmall switcher end cab, and,importantly, had no toilet as all road

units do. One can easily understandwhy crews found the MP15's not totheir liking while railroading alongout in the middle of the Ozarks!However, the MP15's are also stillgainfully employed by the BN, first asBN 4000-4004, and, since 1982, asBN 1000-1004. They essentially servein the same role as the SW1500'stoday. I have seen them in St. Louisand in Tulsa. There is no plasticmodel of the MP15 available to myknowledge, though it has been offeredin brass in HO scale.

DOWN AT THE DEPOT

The St. Louis, San Francisco,and New Orleans Railroad Co. wasincorporated August 31, 1895, underthe general laws of Arkansas, as theArkansas and Choctaw Railway Co.By an amendment to its articles, filedin Arkansas on October 2, 1902, itsname was changed to that first abovewritten.

The company was controlledby the Central Coal & Coke Co. ofKansas City, MO, until June 11, 1901,during which time its railroadextended from Ashdown to Arkinda,AR, about twenty-four miles. On thelast named date, it was decided toextend the railroad from Ashdown toStamps, AR, and from Arkinda, AR toWichita Falls, TX, and the ChoctawConstruction Co. was organized by Frisco Depot, Hope, Ar, 1972. Jim Hartness collection

the Central Coal & Coke Co. for thatpurpose. Control passed to theChoctaw Construction Co. on June11, 1901, which company in turn wascontrolled by an executive committeeof its stockholders, consisting ofRichard H. Keith, president of theCentral Coal & Coke Co., George A.Madill, a director of the St. Louis andSan Francisco Railroad Co., and JohnScullin, of St. Louis, MO.

On June 21, 1902, thestockholders of the ChoctawConstruction Co. agreed to sell theirholdings to the St. Louis and SanFrancisco Railroad Co. A syndicatewas formed by the St. Louis and SanFrancisco Railroad Co. to finance suchpurchase, under an agreement datedJuly 8, 1902, which provided forcontrol of the company to pass to theSLSF. The construction plans werechanged to provide for a line of railroadfrom Hope, AR, to Ardmore, IndianTerritory, and control of the ChoctawConstruction Co. was vested in thesyndicate on June 21, 1902.

On April 30, 1907, thecompany executed a formal deedconveying its property, rights, andfranchises to the St. Louis and SanFrancisco Railroad Co. At that date,it owned a standard gauge, singletrack railroad, extending from Hope,AR, westerly to Frisco Junction, OK,about 210 miles, with a branchextending from Kiersey, OK, to TexasJunction, OK, about nine miles.

In 1906, a combination stationwas constructed at the southeasternend of the line, Station W680, at Hope,AR. The all brick depot was 71'11" by25', set on a concrete foundation, andincluded a baggage room and Negrowaiting room on the south end, whitewaiting room on the north, divided inthe middle by a large ticket office andsegregated re strooms.

The walls were 13" thick redbrick and the tile covered roof was a1/3 pitch hip design. The interiorfloor was 7/8" x 3 1/4" yellow pine,walls were fmished in rough plaster,and the ceilings were 13' 1 1/2" high.

In addition to inside toilets,other modern (for 1906!) conveniencesincluded electric lighting and naturalgas stoves. The north end of the depotfeatured a covered Porte Cochere andthe platform was brick with a concretecurb.

In addition to the depot, theHope facility included a freight house,two section houses, water tank,engineer's locker room, mechanicaldepartment office & supply room, sandhouse, and two 10,000 gals. oil tanks.The hope station also had one 40' x 40'stock pen, with a six car capacity.

According to our records, S.D.King was the first station agentassigned at Hope, appointed June 2,1904. The first trains to service thecommunity were Nos. 67 & 68, dailyexcept Sunday, between Hope andMadill, OK The last regular schedule

passenger service was provided byrail motor car, trains 773 & 774 daily.In the fall of 1951, motor car servicewas replaced with mixed train service,Nos. 735 & 736, with passengers ridingin the caboose. In the summer of1959, all passenger service to hopewas discontinued.

It should be noted that whileHope's greatest distinction was beingon the Frisco, one additional claim tofame is its being the boyhood home ofour current President of the UnitedState, Bill Clinton!

Frisco public timetable, May, 1950

Frisco Folk Rick McClellan shareswith us an assortment of modelingtricks, tips, and neat things to dothat are relatively simple,inexpensive, and quick, all of whichcan enhance the appearance andoperation of your layout.

Changing CarNumbers

Today's modelers haveseveral nice pieces of Frisco letteredrolling stock for their layouts. Mostnotable of the modern class carsavailable are those by Model DieCasting. They make two 50' plug doorcars (Blue & Box Car Red), a 50'insulated box car, a 50' waffle sidedbox car, a 40' box car, and a gondola.If your a 1970's era modeler like me,you will want to run several of each ofthese cars on your layout. For somemodelers this is the end of the story.

However, if you are anoperations oriented modeler, there iswork yet to be done. The questionbecomes, "Which box car #700268 doI put in train 135 to Memphis? Thereare six of them in the yard!"Unfortunately, model manufacturersdo not individually number each carout of production, so the renumberingjob is left up to the modeler.

Renumbering cars is actuallyquite easy, once you know a trick ortwo. Fellow modeler Craig Rectorshowed me how to remove MDClettering without damaging the paint.Simply dab on Walther's Solvaset andwait a few minutes. I usually puddlethe Solvaset on the lettering to beremoved and wait 5-10 minutes.While the puddle of Solvaset is still onthe lettering, rub a toothpick lightlyover the lettering and it comes off inthe Solvaset which is wiped off with adamp paper towel. If you haven'trubbed too hard with the toothpick,you have a nice paint finish left to put

your new numbers onto. The newnumbers are salvaged from variousold sets kept for such a need.

Car #44208 was renumberedinto #42245 using leftover SLSFcaboose numbers. Car #700268 wasrenumbered #700261 from a HeraldKing number set. I have found thatmost renumbering can be done withexisting Frisco decals sets, so saveany unused decals and store them ina ziplock type storage bag.

When the prototyperenumbers or repaints the originalnumbers, it often repaints the numberarea only of the car. This is normallydone due to rust on the car body. Oncethe rust damage is repaired and

painted, the car men paint the numberon the repainted area. Sometimesthis is done with the same color of theoriginal car and will look newcompared to the rest of the car whichis usually quite weathered.

Other times the railroad willrepaint the number area withwhatever color is on hand at the time.I have tried to simulate this when Irenumbered MDC's 50' plug door car#12122 to #12111. The car numberarea was repainted in black. I evenused a different style of lettering inthe repainted area, which came froma Missouri Pacific diesel lettering set.

I have had success takingnumbers off of Athearn cars by taking

a Q-tip with Floquil Dio-Sol and lightlyrubbing the area until the letteringdissolved. The key in doing this is touse the Dio-Sol sparingly! Too muchwill take the car paint as well. Thebest way to describe this method isthe Dry Brush Method but with a Q-tip instead.

Now there is no reason not tohave several cars from the same classwith different road numbers in yourtrains. If there are any other goodmethods for renumbering freight cars,please let me know so the informationcan be shared. With all these cars onyour layout, shippers can certainly...

Fred Harvey Mealson the Frisco

Delicious and appetizing meals—the kind that has madeFred Harvey famous—are served on all Cafe Cars and innearly all Dining- Halls on the Frisco Lines.