Frisco depot, Afton, OK

[friscobob]

Found this pic on eBay and thought I'd share it with you:
http://www.railimages.com/album/Bob%20Thompson/pcafton.jpg

This is the passenger depot at Afton, OK as it was at around the 1920s. Afton was on the Frisco's Cherokee Subdivision, milepost G348 (348 rail miles from St. Louis) and was the southern junction of the Afton Sub from Edwards, KS (south of Ft. Scott). West of this shot, there was a roundhouse and turntable, plus a coal tower, which was taken down in 1976.

Our family moved to Afton in 1973, and all of us three kids graduated from Afton High School. Dad is buried at the cemetery north of this site, and Mom moved to Miami, OK to a retirement center. The depot was razed by BN in 1983- from what I hear, someone saved the depot signboards. Today, BNSF trains tear through town.

[ 27. February 2003, 08:01: Message edited by: friscobob ]

[Alan]

Nice one, Bob. When I see old pictures, I always look at the cars, they date the scene very well smile.gif

[friscobob]

Another mention:

For a couple of years, my folks managed the Rogers Motel in Afton. Crews running trains off and on the Afton Sub (the trains would roll between Kansas City and Tulsa) would change crews at Afton, and the depot was staffed 24-7-365. We'd get crews from Ft. Scott, KS and Tulsa laying over. After the crews ran through between Tulsa & Ft. Scott, Dad went to work elsewhere. We still remained friends with the Ft. Scott crews, as well as some of the Tulsa boys. We were also friends with Eldon Rose, the Afton agent from 1970 until the depot was torn down by BN in 1983.

I spent the summers of 1975-1976 as night shift desk clerk, waiting for the arrival of Train 137 from KC at around 4:00 AM. After the crew was called to head back to Tulsa, and I cleaned the rooms and checked the Ft. Scott crew in, I would head to bed. I slept 'til noon an awful lot, but given my hours, my parents didn't mind. I would go to sleep with the sound of train QLA, the westbound hotshot, tearing the town apart at 60 MPH. The Queen Lady had precedence over all other trains, and was the runthrough between Birmingham, AL (SCL interchange) and Los Angeles, CA (via Tulsa and Avard, OK, where it would hit Santa Fe rails for the trip west- crews changed at Waynoka).

If you wonder where my love for the Frisco came, now you know. smile.gif

[ 27. February 2003, 17:58: Message edited by: friscobob ]