St. Louis–San Francisco Railway

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox rail The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Template:Reporting mark, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to November 21, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated Template:Convert of road on Template:Convert of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad. That year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. In 1980 it was purchased by and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad.<ref name="Merger">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.

History

Preserved wooden caboose on display in Missouri
Preserved Railway Express Agency car, along with Kiamichi EMD F7 slug No. SL1, at the Frisco Depot Museum in Hugo, Oklahoma

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly called the Frisco, was incorporated in Missouri on September 7, 1876. It was formed from the Missouri Division and Central Division of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. This land grant line was one of two railroads (the other being the M-K-T) authorized by the federal government to build across Indian Territory.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (known simply as the Santa Fe), interested in the A&P right of way across the Mojave Desert to California, took the road over but went bankrupt in 1893. The receivers retained the western right of way but divested the ATSF of the St. Louis–San Francisco mileage on the Great Plains. After bankruptcy, the Frisco emerged as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, incorporated on June 29, 1896.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It later also declared bankruptcy.

In 1903, Frisco executives engaged in negotiations to purchase large tracts of land in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana "up to the Orleans Parish line" as part of plans of "gigantic scope" to further the expansion of the company's rail lines and operations facilities across the state. As part of this plan, the executives proposed relocation of the residents of the historically Black community of Fazendeville to the much smaller, neighboring village of Versailles, which was described as a "settlement consist[ing] merely of a row of very small properties along a public road running at right angles from the river to the railroad track"; however, many of Fazendeville's residents resisted and then ultimately refused the railway's financial offers. According to one of the newspapers which reported on those plans, "The Frisco road cannot obtain title to the National Cemetery, but is after all the rest of the river front, and wants to cross the present public road practically at grade in many public places."<ref>"St. Bernard Progress: Gigantic Scope of the Plans of the Frisco: Buying Upland Up to the Orleans Parish Line." New Orleans, Louisiana: The Times-Democrat, July 16, 1903, p. 7 (subscription required).</ref>

In 1901, the Frisco took control of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, which it operated as an independent subsidiary, and constructed several extensions of the latter. However, after the Frisco entered bankruptcy in 1913, it made no further extensions of the FW&RG, which in most years failed to make a net profit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1937 the Frisco sold the FW&RG to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for $1.5 million, giving the latter an entry into Fort Worth from the west.

On August 24, 1916, the Frisco was reorganized as the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, though the line never went west of Texas, terminating more than Template:Convert from San Francisco.

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway had two main lines: St. Louis–Tulsa–Oklahoma City-Floydada, Texas, and Kansas City–Memphis–Birmingham. The junction of the two lines was in Springfield, Missouri, home to the company's main shop facility. The corporate headquarters was at 906 Olive Street, St. Louis. Other lines included:

Frisco attorney John T. Woodruff secured 320 acres and over $1,000,000 to expand the railroad's operations in Springfield, Missouri, establishing a base of operations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There were three separate back shop facilities in and around the city: North Side, which handled light locomotive repairs; South Side, inherited from the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis, for heavy locomotive repairs and overhauls; and West Side, which were the primary car shops for the railroad. In 1912 a new facility was built in Memphis, Tennessee to handle the eastern section of the system, consisting of a yard, roundhouse terminal, and car shops. At Kansas City, Missouri was another substantial back shop site, consisting of a roundhouse terminal and several shop buildings served by a transfer table.<ref>Starr, Timothy. The Back Shop Illustrated, Volume 2: Midwest Region.</ref>

From March 1917 through January 1959, the Frisco, in a joint venture with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, operated the Texas Special. This luxurious train, a streamliner from 1947, ran from St. Louis to Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas.

The Frisco merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on November 21, 1980.<ref name="Merger" />

The city of Frisco, Texas, was named after the railroad and uses the former railroad's logo as its own logo. The logo is modeled after a stretched-out raccoon skin<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (giving rise to Frisco High School's mascot, the Fighting Raccoons).

Passenger trains

The Sunnyland at Birmingham Alabama's Union Station on April 15, 1963

While the Texas Special may be the most famous passenger train operated by Frisco, it was just one of a fleet of named trains. These included:

  • Black Gold (a joint Frisco–Katy operation inaugurated between Tulsa and Houston on January 23, 1938, and continuing until January 18, 1960)<ref name=FriscoTX2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • The Bluebonnet (St. Louis to San Antonio—with through service by M-K-T—leaving early afternoon, arriving Dallas/Ft. Worth the next morning, and arriving San Antonio late afternoon.)<ref name=Bluebonnet>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=WillRogers>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Chadwick Flyer (Branch line from Springfield to Chadwick, Missouri; discontinued by March 1933)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Firefly (at various times serving St. Louis, Kansas City, Fort Scott, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City.<ref name=Firefly /> This was Frisco's first streamliner, and the first streamliner to be built in the southwest, the streamline modifications being done by Frisco itself)<ref name=Firefly>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • General Wood (Originally between St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, from May 1941; truncated in June 1942 to service between St. Louis and Newburg, Missouri; and, discontinued entirely in the fall of 1946.)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Governor (Joplin–Tulsa–Oklahoma City)<ref name=Guide />
  • Kansas City–Florida Special (Kansas City–Jacksonville)
  • Kansas Limited (St. Louis–Wichita–Ellsworth)<ref name=Guide />
  • Kansas Mail (St. Louis–Wichita)<ref name=Guide />
  • Memphian (St. Louis–Memphis)
  • Memphis Passenger (St. Louis–Memphis)<ref name=Guide />
  • Meteor (St. Louis–Tulsa–Oklahoma City by night with connecting train Monett–Fort Smith–Paris, TX)
  • Oil Fields Special (Kansas City–Tulsa–Dallas–Ft. Worth, with through service to Houston)<ref name=Guide />
  • Oklahoman (Once connected Kansas City–Tulsa but was later rerouted between St. Louis–Oklahoma City)
  • Southland (Kansas City–Birmingham) (truncated successor to the Kansas City–Florida Special)
  • Southwest Limited (St. Louis–Tulsa–Oklahoma City–Lawton)<ref name=Guide />
  • St. Louis-Memphis Limited (St. Louis–Memphis–Birmingham)<ref name=Guide />
  • Sunnyland (Kansas City/St. Louis–Atlanta/Pensacola/New Orleans)
  • Tulsa Texan (a joint Frisco–Katy operation inaugurated between Tulsa and Houston in 1937, and phased out between March and July 1940)<ref name=FriscoTX2 />
  • Texas Flash (Tulsa–Sherman–Dallas by day)
  • Texokla Limited (St. Louis–Springfield–Dallas)<ref name=Guide>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Texas Limited (St. Louis–Springfield–Dallas, with through service to Houston–Galveston)<ref name=Guide />
  • Texas Special (St. Louis–Springfield–Dallas–Ft. Worth, with through service to Austin–San Antonio)<ref name=Guide />
  • Will Rogers (St. Louis–Oklahoma City/Wichita by day, 1936–1965; with through service northbound out of St. Louis to Chicago via the Alton Railroad or Wabash Railroad)<ref name=WillRogers />

Former Frisco lines today

1899 poster showing a boy and a girl in a Frisco waiting room

The core of the former Frisco system continues to be operated by BNSF Railway as high-density mainlines. Other secondary and branchlines have been sold to shortline operators or have been abandoned altogether.

Surviving equipment

Steam locomotives

  • Frisco 19, a 2-8-0 Consolidation-type built in 1910 and on static display in Frisco, Texas located adjacent to the Frisco Depot replica and the BNSF tracks that run through the city.<ref name=Heritage/> (Note: While the locomotive is in Frisco livery and the Frisco Heritage Association says the locomotive “stands to honor” the Frisco Railroad heritage, this unit did not actually operate on the SLSF. It is the former Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad 19. It was purchased by the City of Frisco, Texas, as a static display, and is representative of a typical SLSF locomotive. Frisco operated a number of Consolidations as Frisco-series 1306 engines.<ref name=”auto” >http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/?page=slsf Template:Webarchive, Retrieved 6-11-15.</ref> However, Caboose #1144 from 1946, which is paired with the locomotive, came to the town in 1976 as a gift from the Frisco Railroad, and did serve throughout the Frisco’s southern routes.<ref name=Heritage>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 73, a 2-6-0 "Mogul" built by Baldwin in 1916.<ref name=No73>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has 19-inch cylinders and 49.5-inch driving wheels.<ref name=No73 /> Numbered as 34 when Frisco acquired its owner, the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad in 1925, the locomotive was renumbered to 73 and kept by the Frisco until sold on September 19, 1945, to the Delta Valley and Southern Railway, a short line operator in northeast Arkansas.<ref name=No73 /> It is preserved on the Lee Wesson Plantation in Victoria, Arkansas<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> under the Delta Valley & Southern Locomotive No. 73 name with no visible numbers on the cab or tender,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but with the original Frisco raccoon-skin-shaped number board and "73" on its nose.<ref name=No73 />

  • Frisco 76 and Frisco 77, 2-8-0 Consolidation-type engines built as Numbers 40 and 41 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in December, 1920 for the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad.<ref name=FriscoMuseum76>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> When that line became part of the Frisco, the locomotives were re-numbered as 76 and 77.<ref name=FriscoMuseum76 /> After performing freight service for years, both engines were sold in 1947 to the Mississippian Railway where they retained the Frisco numbers.<ref name=FriscoMuseum76 /> Following several further changes in ownership for each engine,<ref name=FriscoMuseum76 /><ref name=Hawkins /> #76 is now owned by the Oakland B&O Museum in Oakland, Maryland, where it has been renumbered and relettered as the Baltimore & Ohio 476,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and #77 is now with Alberta Prairie Railway in Stettler, Alberta, where it pulls excursion trains and has been renumbered back to 41.<ref name=Hawkins>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 1352, built by ALCO in 1912 as a 2-8-0 Consolidation (Frisco 1321), and converted by Frisco in June 1944 to a 2-8-2 Mikado.<ref name=Frisco282>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was sent to Taylorville, Illinois in 2008 and was disassembled, awaiting restoration to operating condition.<ref>Frisco 1352</ref> In November, 2023, it was reported that the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat in Essex, Connecticut, which is a heritage railroad that is operated by the Valley Railroad Co., purchased No. 1352.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 1355, built by ALCO in 1912 as a 2-8-0 Consolidation (Frisco 1318), and converted in October 1945<ref name=Frisco282 /> to a 2-8-2 Mikado in Frisco's main shops in Springfield.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Given that the 1350–1356 series were both the last steam locomotives rebuilt by Frisco and the last Mikados built anywhere in the United States, No. 1355 is the last surviving.<ref name=Frisco282 /> Following refurbishment by Frisco, it was donated to the City of Pensacola and moved to a location on Garden Street in that city in March 1957,<ref name=Pensacola>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> near the site of the SLSF passenger depot demolished in 1967.Template:Citation needed Additional refurbishment was done by the Naval Brig Staff of the Pensacola Naval Air Station in late 1991 and early 1992.<ref name=Pensacola />

  • Frisco 1501, one of thirty 4-8-2 Mountain-type locomotives purchased from Baldwin for freight and passenger service.<ref name="rgusrailMountain">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 1500 series, all oil-burners, arrived in three batches, being Nos. 1500–1514 in the spring of 1923, Nos. 1515–1519 in 1925, and Nos. 1520–1529 in the summer of 1926.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> No. 1501 has been on static display in Schuman Park, Rolla, Missouri, since 1955. Several parts from Frisco 1501 were donated to Frisco 1522 to make/keep 1522 operational. Video

  • Frisco 1519, a Baldwin 4-8-2 Mountain-type delivered in 1925,<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> now at the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma in Enid, Oklahoma.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name ="FriscoPark" />

  • Frisco 1522, a Baldwin 4-8-2 Mountain-type delivered in 1926.<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> It was at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri, until 1988, when it began pulling excursions. In 2002, it was returned to the Museum of Transportation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="FriscoPark" />

  • Frisco 1527, a Baldwin 4-8-2 Mountain-type delivered in 1926.<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> On static display in Langan Park in Mobile, Alabama<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> since 1964.

  • Frisco 1529, a Baldwin 4-8-2 Mountain-type, delivered in 1926.<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> The locomotive pulled a train carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934, and was eventually the last steam engine to make a passenger run for Frisco. Now on static display in Frisco Park in Amory, Mississippi.<ref name="FriscoPark">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 1615 and the other locomotives in Frisco-series 1600 were 2-10-0 Russian locomotive class Ye (Russian Decapods) with a 5’ gauge built for the Tsarist government in Russia.<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> When that government was overthrown before delivery, the units were rebuilt as standard-gauge locomotives (by fitting extra-wide tires on the wheels)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and sold through the United States Railroad Administration to American railways.<ref name ="rgusrailMountain" /> Frisco acquired 20 of the units (17 directly from the government, 3 from other companies), which became Nos. 1613 to 1632.<ref name=March88>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Of these, Nos. 1615, 1621, 1625, 1630 and 1632, all coal-burning, were later sold in the 1951 timeframe to Eagle-Picher and used to haul lead and zinc from the Picher Field to the E-P mill in Miami, Oklahoma.<ref name=March88 /><ref name="R1615">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All these units were placed in storage by 1957 when that operation was closed.<ref name=March88 /> By 1964, homes were being sought for all of these engines.<ref name=March88 /> Frisco 1615, built in 1917 as part of Frisco's first batch of engines (Nos. 1613–1623) which were constructed by ALCO's Richmond Locomotive Works in the fall of 1917 and spring of 1918, was acquired by the City of Altus, Oklahoma, on October 22, 1967, and remains on static display there.<ref name=March88 /><ref name ="R1615" />

  • Frisco 1621 is another 2-10-0 Russian Decapod, built in 1918. On static display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 1630 is another 2-10-0 Russian Decapod, part of Frisco's batch (Nos. 1626–1632) which were all constructed by Baldwin in 1918.<ref name=March88 /> It has been in excursion service at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, since 1972, and is considered by the museum as their most famous locomotive.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 3695 is a Frisco-series 3600 locomotive, which were 0-6-0 switch engines built between August, 1883, and July, 1906.<ref name=Frisco3600>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ninety-five in number, the only survivor is No. 3695, built in July, 1906 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and serving Frisco thirty-one years before being sold to the Scullin Steel Company and renumbered No. 95.<ref name=Frisco3600 /><ref name =Frisco3695>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The engine was donated in 1956 and is on display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.<ref name=Frisco3695 />

  • Frisco 3749 is a Frisco-series 3700 locomotive, which was a class of forty-six 0-6-0 switch engines built between 1906 and 1910.<ref name=Frisco3700>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, another source says No. 3749 in particular was built in 1913, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.<ref name=Florida>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Retired from Frisco service in 1952, the engine was leased to the Atmore Prison Farm in Atmore, Alabama, before being used in 1956 as a prop in an MGM movie, The Wings of Eagles, starring John Wayne.<ref name=Frisco3700 /> After later sitting idle for a number of years and being sold for scrap, the engine was moved to the Church Street Station in Orlando, Florida, as a static display.<ref name=Frisco3700 /> In 2012 it was acquired and put on display by the Florida Railroad Museum.<ref name=Florida />

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> This locomotive has the distinction of being the last Frisco steam locomotive in regular service, completing its final run (a five-mile trek from Bessemer to Birmingham, Alabama) on February 29, 1952.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 4500, a 4-8-4 oil-fired Northern-type built in 1942,<ref name ="Museum" /> on static display in Tulsa, Oklahoma, being a locomotive which pulled the Frisco's crack Meteor passenger train.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 4501, an oil-fired 4-8-4<ref name ="Museum" /> on static display at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas,<ref name="auto1" /> also a former Meteor locomotive.
  • Frisco 4516, 4-8-4 Northern-type coal-fired locomotive<ref name ="Museum" /> on static display at Missouri State Fairgrounds, Sedalia, Missouri, also known as "Old Smokie".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 4524, another wartime 4500-series 4-8-4 coal-fired Northern-type,<ref name ="Museum" /> donated to Springfield, Missouri, in November 1954,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> now on static display at the Railroad Historical Museum inside Grant Beach Park in Springfield, and wearing the "Frisco Faster Freight" paint scheme.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Being the last engine of the last group of steam locomotives that Frisco purchased, this engine has the distinction of being the last steam locomotive built for the Frisco.<ref name="Museum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Diesel locomotives

  • Frisco 200, a Baldwin VO-1000 switcher and Frisco's very first diesel locomotive of any kind, was sold to the Navy, which in 2015 sold it to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which has it stored out of service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The U.S. Navy acquired a number of the Frisco VO-1000 diesels, reportedly including Numbers 200-203 and 205-206.<ref name=Zone>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other units may still be in use by the Navy, or may have been sold to other parties.<ref name=Zone/>

  • Frisco 261 is an EMD NW2, that later became Burlington Northern #421. It is currently in its Burlington Northern livery and is in the collection of the Great Plains Transportation Museum in Wichita, KS.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frisco 358 is an operational General Motors EMD SW1500, repainted to BN 63 livery, then BNSF 3443, and finally in 2024 to BJRY 1501. Currently owned and operated by Burlington Junction Railway ("BJRY"); it is one of the local switchers on the BJRY Burlington, Iowa local line.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Frisco's only operation of F9A units occurred when two of the line's EMD F3A units were converted into F9A units.<ref name="DieselRoster">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>)

Buildings and structures

Multiple surviving buildings, structures and locations associated with the Frisco are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Frisco Building at 908 Olive Street in St. Louis (where the corporate headquarters were located), the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Building in Joplin, Missouri, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad Depot in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Depot in Comanche, Texas, the Beaumont St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Retention Pond, and the Beaumont St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Water Tank. Frisco Lake, a small lake in Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri, was named for and owned by the Frisco.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Frisco Building, being the former Frisco Operating Headquarters in Springfield built in 1910 and now known as the Landmark Building, is an official City of Springfield counsel-approved landmark.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Frisco Bridge at Memphis was the first bridge over the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, and the third longest bridge in the world at the time of its dedication on May 12, 1892;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it is now listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

4-4-0s

Locomotives with 4-4-0 wheel arrangements, known as the "American" type because they were considered for many years to be the standard in American locomotives, originally served Frisco in great numbers.<ref name=Frisco440>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In July, 1903, the Frisco had 159 4-4-0's in service, built by twenty-five different companies.<ref name=Frisco440/> Frisco renumbered its units in that year, assigning the 4-4-0's either numbers between 1–299 (140 units), or 2200-series numbers (19 units).<ref name=Frisco440/> The oldest Frisco 4-4-0 locomotive was No. 47, built in 1869 by Hinkley Locomotive Works.<ref name=Frisco440/> The last serving 4-4-0's were retired in 1951.

4-6-0s

Even more numerous on the Frisco were 4-6-0 "Ten-wheelers".<ref name=Frisco460>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first such engines entered the Frisco system in 1870.<ref name=Frisco460/> By 1903, Frisco had a fleet of 430 such locomotives, which were renumbered that year into seven class series, using 400, 500, 600, 700, 1100, 1400, and 2600-series numbers.<ref name=Frisco460 /> The last 4-6-0s on the Frisco roster were the 1400 series, with the last engine to be retired from service being #1409, dismantled and sold for scrap in November, 1951.<ref name=Frisco460/>

Doodlebugs

Frisco-series 2100 equipment consisted of self-propelled rail motor-cars, mostly gas-electric models,<ref name=DoodlebugsII /> with a few gas-mechanical models given 3000-series numbers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These railway vehicles were commonly known as "Doodlebugs" for their insect-like appearance and the slow speeds at which they would doddle or "doodle" down the tracks.<ref name=DoodlebugsII>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These were used to service various low-volume branch lines in the Frisco organization.<ref name=DoodlebugsII /><ref name=DoodlebugsII|>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An initial order for ten was placed in 1910, with seven more arriving by 1913, putting Frisco in the forefront of gas-electric operation at that time.<ref name=DoodlebugsII /> The initial batch, numbered 2100 to 2109, included nine baggage-coach combinations, as well as one baggage-mail-coach unit.<ref name=DoodlebugsII /> Frisco's peak year for motor-car mileage was 1931, and its fleet at that time included twenty-three gas-electrics, five gas-mechanical cars, four trailer coaches, and six mail-baggage units.<ref name=DoodlebugsII /> The final Frisco run of a Doodlebug was on November 8, 1953, when No. 2128 traveled from Ardmore, Oklahoma, for the four hour trip to Hugo, Oklahoma.<ref name=DoodlebugsII />

Frisco Series 4300 and 4400

Two series of Frisco locomotives not surviving were Frisco 4300s and 4400s. These were all 4-8-2 units assembled by Frisco itself in the late 1930s to the early 1940s from other locomotives. Eleven, being units 4300 through 4310, were built in 1936 and 1937 from used 2-10-2 parts. They had Template:Convert cylinders, Template:Convert drivers, a boiler pressure of Template:Cvt, and a tractive effort of Template:Convert, weighing Template:Convert. Another twenty-three 4-8-2s were built using the boilers from 2-10-2s between 1939 and 1942. Units 4400 through 4412 were oil-burning, while units 4413 through 4422 burned coal. These locomotives had Template:Convert cylinders, Template:Convert drivers, a boiler pressure of Template:Cvt, and a tractive effort of Template:Convert. Weighing in at Template:Convert, they were the heaviest Mountain-type locomotives ever built.<ref name=FriscoPark/>

Dieselization

Frisco's first acquisition of diesel locomotives came in November 1941, when the line received five Baldwin VO-1000 switchers of a Template:Convert each.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Frisco started a serious dieselization program in 1947, which took about five years.<ref name=Aug>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When the period of steam power ended for Frisco in February 1952 with the last run of steam engine 4018, the Frisco's diesel fleet included seventeen Template:Cvt passenger, six Template:Cvt passenger, twelve Template:Cvt combination freight and passenger, one hundred and twenty-three 1,500 hp freight, one hundred and thirty-three 1,500 hp general purpose, eleven 1,000 hp general purpose, and one hundred and five yard-switcher units, for a total of 407 diesel locomotives.<ref name=Sept>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At that time, the Frisco became the largest Class I railroad in the U.S. to be operating strictly with diesel power.<ref name=Aug/>

The Frisco gave names to its 2000-series diesel passenger locomotives, EMD E7 and (mostly) EMD E8 units,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> using the theme of famous horses.<ref name=June>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These included racehorses such as Gallant Fox (No. 2011), Sea Biscuit (No. 2013), and Citation (No. 2016).<ref name=June/> However, other horses also made the list: for instance, when No. 2022 was rebuilt after a wreck, it was given the name of Champion, after ex-Frisco-employee Gene Autry's trusty steed in the movies.<ref name=June/>

Frisco Silver Dollar Line

The amusement park Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, runs multiple diesel-fired or heating oil-fired steam trains around the park on its 2-foot-gauge rail line, known as the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. The Frisco operated in that part of the country, and supplied construction help to the Park, along with the rails and ties, back when this line was being built in 1962. Perhaps for these reasons, the trains sport the Frisco name and logo. However, this was never an actual Frisco rail line, and the steam locomotives started life as industrial engines on German intraplant railroads, not as actual rolling stock on the Frisco.<ref name=AllAboard>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Predecessors

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The following companies were predecessors of the Frisco:

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Acquisitions

Frisco 1522 has been preserved and restored. In this picture, the locomotive is sitting in Arkansas City, Kansas.

The following railroads were acquired or merged into the Frisco: {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:AmboxTemplate:Main other }}

Asset absorptions

The following is a list of partial or full asset absorptions, many times through bankruptcy courts or creditors. In some cases the Frisco was a creditor. Assets can include mineral rights, property, track and right of way, trains, bonds, mortgages, etc.

Frisco 1621 on display at the National Museum of Transportation outside St. Louis, Missouri

See also

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References

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