Those
Magnificent, Distinctive, Homebuilt, Frisco Mountains
by
Jim Quarles
©1996
(Garrison
Keeler says most stories are not written because the potential writer does not
have a good beginning line to start. Well the title is a great start, now all I
have to do is write the story!)
Most
steam locomotives, for all their interesting gizmos, doodads and differences
that caused them to be such maintenance nightmares are much alike. They all have
boilers, wheels, cylinders, stacks, domes and cabs. Most of them have spoked
wheels. I wish to write a bit about a group that were different. They were
magnificently different. They were the first of a breed, and the largest of a
type. They were designed and built in the early mid 30's in response to a need
for faster more efficient freight and passenger handling, brought about by the
beginnings of the rubber tired transportation system we have now.
I
suspect the managers and other personnel of the shops where locomotives were
cared for subscribed to trade magazines that outlined and documented changes in
their craft for during this time there were several railroads that had old slow
outmoded 2-10-2 drag type locomotives with small drive wheels that probably
could move huge trains if you had time to wait on them and could afford to
repair the damage those small wheels did to the tracks when they rotated too
fast. Several of the railroads that had this type of locomotive tried rebuilding
them to a 4-8-2 Mountain type of locomotive. The Louisville and Nashville is one
that comes to mind at present. Each of these rebuilds were look alikes for all the others
that had gone before, lots of gimcracks, trigger work, spoked wheels and bad
lines. Sort of like you had a bunch of old parts and decided to shake the basket
and make a locomotive.
None
of these rebuilds could match what the Frisco came up with. I believe the old
2-10-2 group of locomotives were just used as a pile of scrap parts to draw on
for materials as the Frisco boys built themselves a group of new locomotives.
The Frisco shop crew at Springfield, MO used the piece of the boiler with the necessary
serial number from the old machines welded into the new boilers to take
advantage of the tax rules of that time that favored rebuilt locomotives vs. new
locomotives.
Make
no mistake, these Springfield 'rebuilds' were new machines. Just look at them,
they stand out in any locomotive crowd. Of course those bewitching Scullin
drivers with the holes make them stand out, but look at how 'clean' the overall
design was. This 'clean' design was also seen on the next group of engines, the
'4500's. I suppose this 'cleanness' was a reflection of the state of the art of
engine design at that day and time, but there were several later designs on
other railroads that did not have this refinement to the eye. The machines I'm
thinking of is the New York Central Niagara 4-8-4 which was one of the latest
steamers designed. They also used the Scullin type drivers, but I do not believe
their design was as pleasant to the eye as the Frisco Mountains were. Beauty is
in the eye of the beholder, and as I have said before, I'm biased.
To
make my point on how distinctive these locomotives were I have to relate the
following story that happened to me a few years ago. I was at a model meet
working on a brass unpainted model of a 4400. An old gentleman walked by where I
was working, turned around and said, 'That is a Frisco 4300/4400 class isn't
it?' Now I don't know about you but a one brass unpainted locomotive upside down
on a table looks a lot like another brass unpainted model locomotive. Needless
to say we had quite a visit. Turns out he was an old Frisco hand and said he had
rode one of them down a mountain during a derailment near Rolla once. Said it
was quite an experience. Another antecedent. I had seen and add for one of the
models of a 4300 in Model Railroader for sale. I called the store that was
advertising the model and asked the clerk to describe the engine for me as it
was painted and I wished to know what the number was the quality of the paint
job etc. He opened the box, and kind of moaned and said, "Gee why can't the
Pennsylvania have a locomotive so beautiful?" Nuff said!
One
thing I cannot discuss for lack of knowledge is the mechanics of what was under
those beautiful lines the crew at Springfield came up with. What of the
bearings, lubricators, generators, injectors, etc. that were used. Did they come
from the old machines or were they new. I suspect if a part had no impact on
reliability of the design, it was probably pulled out of the scrap parts, but if
it had any impact on generating power, reliability, etc. then it was of new
origin, whether purchased from a supplier, or designed and built in house.
Now
in my minds eye I stand at the Ash Grove station platform and hear one of these
beauties coming from the West across the Sac River Bridge, pulling the grade
around the curve at the old cement plant cut and see it burst into sight at the
signal on the curve West of town. How
lucky are those that have that have such a memory, and how much I wish I could
remember it. You see I grew up in sight of the Frisco mainline in Ash Grove. My
Mom several times had to go 'fetch' me off the right of way when the troop
trains or trains of tanks went through town during WW2 for I was a little tike
and loved those big black monsters that made all the noise and pulled the
trains, but I was too young to remember. I still love them though, especially if
they are of a certain class of Frisco engine. Any guesses as to which one?
e-mail When your e-mail editor starts - please remove the first character (underbar.) It makes it a little unhandy for you - but it's the ONLY way I know to slow down those e-mail robots currently sending so much automated junk e-mail currently.
Copyright © 2002 Jim
Quarles, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by
Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, hosted, or
otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission.
Jim Quarles
Springfield, MO
Revised: May 22, 2003
