1. Lownen

    Lownen TrainBoard Member

    1,077
    4
    21
    I'm a Katy fan. Apparently no one has used the MKT forum in a long time. Anyone out there want to talk Missouri-Kansas-Texas?
     
  2. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

    13,326
    499
    149
    I am an SP modeler and I frequently use MKT for interchange or run through power. I like both the green and the red engines, but I am not exactly sure of the exact dates for those colors.

    Here is my kit bashed MKT dynamite boxcar. These were the largest decals I could find. It's okay for a stand-in.
    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately, I don't have any prototype info to offer, but I am sure there are many others here who do.

    Welcome to TrainBoard! :thumbs_up:
     
  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Welcome to TrainBoard! I've nothing much to offer. If you've got some M-K-T to share, please do!

    Boxcab E50
     
  4. Triplex

    Triplex TrainBoard Member

    3,214
    1
    44
    Nothing to offer here, but a question. It seems that MKT had one of the most aggressive repowering programs. The RS-3s and Baldwin switchers got decent lifespans out of it. I haven't seen so many pictures of their re-engined FAs, though, and all in red. So how long did they last? By the luck of re-engined power on other roads, my guess is late 60s or early 70s, or about as long as original-engined US FAs got.
     
  5. JCater

    JCater TrainBoard Member

    3,199
    9
    49
    WELCOME to Trainboard!!! Know nearly nothing about the MKT but would love to learn!
     
  6. Lownen

    Lownen TrainBoard Member

    1,077
    4
    21
    Thanks for the warm welcome.

    I have to confess that, although a Katy fan, I don't have extensive knowledge of the railroad. I became interested in Katy when I rekindled my interest in model railroading a while back. I was buying trains for the sake of starting an N Scale collection when my brother-in-law asked me to watch out for Missouri Kansas Texas because his grandfather had been a fireman on Katy steam locos.

    I don't know about the repowering program that Triplex mentioned. I do know that the Katy was run into the ground by bad management in the late 1950s. One book I read gives that as the reason that the Frisco pulled out of Texas Special operations in 1959. A booklet published by the MKT railroad which covers the history of MKT from 1870 - 1970 refers to tactics used by management to save the railroad in the early 60s as "draconian". It goes on to say that when John Barringer took over as president in 1965 he began an aggressive campaign of clean-up and restoration.

    Here is an image that Triplex should find interesting: MKT Photo Gallery, Picture 1

    Because I have been researching the MKT I have made some additions to the Wikipedia page about it recently, and I plan on adding livery color information tonight. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    I bought a Con-Cor Limited Edition Texas Special on ebay. I'm really glad I won the bid because I have never seen another Texas Special in N Scale by any manufacturer anywhere. I find this surprising because Lionel and MTH Texas Specials are so common in O Scale and Kusan models turn up on ebay frequently as well.

    In researching the Texas Special I discovered that Wikipedia didn't even have a Texas Special page, so I created one.
    Texas Special - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The Texas Special, as I alluded to earlier, was a joint venture with the Frisco Line. If there are any Frisco fans who can contribute to the Texas Special page I'd be to see their additions and talk with them here.

    I've just purchased a digital camera with macro capability recently, so I'll try to get pictures up of some of my Katy collection.

    Again, thanks!
     
  7. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
  8. Lownen

    Lownen TrainBoard Member

    1,077
    4
    21
    That is a beautiful Texas Special. Who made it and what scale is it? Could you possibly check the named cars against my list of Texas Speicial named cars on Wikipedia and add any that I don't have there? Or post a list of car names here so I can add any I don't have. As you can see on the Wiki page, I only have one named Frisco car listed at the moment, the Olivette.

    Texas Special - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The GP7s and your town are very nice also. I looked up the 102 and only found pictures of it after it had been repainted in the newer green/yellow livery.

    By the way, I've added a history of the livery colors on the Wiki MKT page as best I could decipher it from other sources.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri-Kansas-Texas_Railroad

    Going to check out your other images. Thanks!
     
  9. maintainance in the way

    maintainance in the way E-Mail Bounces

    63
    0
    13
    I was working in eastern Kansas last month. God I must have seen a dozen MKT cabooses on display in little towns etc etc.

    Really have to start carying a camera........could 'a caught the Katy.....
     
  10. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
    I kit bashed that Texas Special out of the old Atlas Rivarossi cars and Con Cor E7 shells. I grafted the nose from KATO E8's onto the Con Cor shells and added corrugated pannels. Then popped the shells onto the KATO E8 mechanisms. The fuel tanks are still wrong but I have never got around to fixing that. There are now brass sides available to model all the cars exactly. Here are the decals I had made to decorate my cars.
    [​IMG]
     
  11. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

    3,509
    161
    59
    I'm a big Katy fan but I don't model the MKT. I recently purchased "Katy Recollections" by Louis Marre and Greg Sommers, published by Paired Rail Productions. I recommend the book for the great photos, but take the information contained within with a grain of salt. Regardless, it brought back memories of my youth railfanning the OKKT and MKT trains running on the FW&D.
     
  12. friscoluvr

    friscoluvr TrainBoard Member

    37
    0
    22
    Here is a list of the streamlined cars the Frisco ran. The list contains both Frisco and MKT cars and the notes at the bottom will tell which train they were in. This list belongs to Larry Shankles of Topeka Kansas and he is very knowledgable on this so I believe the list is accurate.

    Dale S.


    Baggage, 30’ Mail
    SLSF 250-Rock Hill *
    MKT 1000-Anson B. Jones *
    SLSF 251-Normandy **
    SLSF 252-Valley Park **

    56-seat divided Coach
    SLSF 1250-Olivette *
    SLSF 1251-Pasadena Hills *
    SLSF 1252-Baden *
    MKT 1200-Edward Burlson *
    MKT 1201-David G. Burnett *
    MKT 1202-J. Pinckney Henderson *

    56-seat Coach
    SLSF 1253-Clayton **
    SLSF 1254-Ferguson **
    SLSF 1255-Kirkwood **
    SLSF 1256-Richmond Heights **
    SLSF 1257-University City **
    SLSF 1258-Webster Groves **

    26-seat Coach, Buffet, 25-seat Lounge
    SLSF 1650-Sterling Price *
    MKT 1300-Mirabeau B. Lamar *
    SLSF 1651-Ladue **
    SLSF 1652-Huntleigh **

    36-seat Diner
    SLSF 650-Alexander Doniphan *
    MKT 1100-Sam Houston *

    24-seat Diner, 18-seat Lounge, RE Observation
    SLSF 1550-Tulsa **
    SLSF 1551-Oklahoma City **

    34-seat Coach, Dormitory
    SLSF 1095-Manchester **
    SLSF 1096-Maplewood **

    14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper
    SLSF 1450-Pierre Laclede *
    SLSF 1451-Thomas Hart Benton *
    SLSF 1452-Henry Shaw *
    SLSF 1453-Francis P. Blair *
    SLSF 1454-Auguste Choteau *
    SLSF 1455-George G. Vest *
    SLSF 1456-Eugene Field *
    MKT 1500-James W. Fannin *
    MKT 1501-Benjamin R. Milam *
    MKT 1502-William B. Travis *
    MKT 1503-David Crockett *
    MKT 1504-James Bowie *
    MKT 1505-James B. Bonham *
    MKT 1506-Amon B. King *
    SLSF 1457-Meramec River **
    SLSF 1458-Osage River **
    SLSF 1459-Gasconade River **
    SLSF 1460-Niangua River **
    SLSF 1461-James River **
    SLSF 1462-Grand River **
    SLSF 1463-Canadian River **
    SLSF 1464-Neosho River **
    SLSF 1465-Spring River **
    SLSF 1466-Cimarron River **

    2 Bedroom, 1 Drawing Room, Buffet, 23-seat Lounge, RE Observation
    SLSF 1350-Joseph Pulitzer *
    MKT 1400-Stephen F. Austin *

    72-seat Coach Pullman Stainless Steel Demonstrator
    MKT 1202R-J. Pinckney Henderson ***

    64-seat Divided Coach
    SLSF 1259-Picardy Lane ****
    MKT 1203-Garland ****
    MKT 1204-Pryor ****
    MKT 1205-New Braunfels ****
    MKT 1206-McAlester ****
    MKT 1207-Denton ****

    32-seat Coach, Buffet, 27-seat Lounge
    MKT 1301-Temple ****

    * built 1947 for The Texas Special
    ** built 1947 The Meteor
    *** built 1954 replaced original 1202 wrecked in 1953
    **** built 1955 for The Texas Special
     
  13. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
    I included some of the Frisco Meteor names in my decal sets because they showed up many times on the TX SPL. Those and many heavyweight cars painted in red and silver with shadow lines. There were also times when Katy and Frisco green heavyweight RPO/Baggage cars were in the consist
     
  14. Lownen

    Lownen TrainBoard Member

    1,077
    4
    21
    Interesting....

    After reading Dale's post I looked up the Meteor on Wikipedia. It was't there. I spent the morning finding all that I could about it and creating a page for it on Wiki. The page is little more than a stub at this point. I'd be glad if any of you would add material to it.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_28St._Louis-San_Francisco_Railway%29

    It seems the Wiki "named trains" group isn't as active as it once was.

    Doug; I've been thinking about purchasing "Katy Recollections", thanks for the recommendation.
     
  15. XOKIE

    XOKIE New Member

    2
    0
    10
    I was born in Nov 1935, one block from the Katy main line in North McAlester, OK. I never lived more than three blocks from the Katy in No Mca till I was 18 yrs old. I witnessed so much of the Katy, steam power, the conversion to diesel, the North and South locals from McA, the local (mine run as we called it) east to Wilburton, OK. It got in my blood and never left it. I saw a burnt out journal on the tender of #5 passenger steam eng, I saw a GP7 on the Wilburton local just after it rolled over off a raised roadbed after it hit a cow. It was pulling its coal train and pushing an empty gon in front that had a broken coupler. The light gon in front hit a cow and rolled over its body, derailing the gon and sliding off the bank and pulling the engine with it. For the first time I understood how the power got to the axles on a diesel. And many other events I witnessed. It was so much a part of the life of my friends and I that I failed to make any record of it. Now all I have are memories and they are getting a little faded. My father was yard switchman 1941 to 1974. We played all around the railroad, the coaling tower, the track where the engines tied up, back then no one cared if we were on the rail property or not. Once in awhile, Joe Roth, the engineer on the yard engine, would let us ride a little in the cab with him. Most of the trainmen, local and thru, knew us. I read on forums such as this one about the greatness of the Sante Fe, UP, SP, Penn, NYC, etc. But to me there was only one great railroad, the MK&T; I could feel its heart beat with mine as a boy growing up a long time ago.

    XOKIE
     
  16. Lownen

    Lownen TrainBoard Member

    1,077
    4
    21
    XOKIE...

    Thanks for your recollections. I really enjoyed reading them.

    Lownen
     
  17. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

    7,160
    171
    90
    Is MKT what is referred to in the first song of the Blues Brothers?

    "She caught the Ka-ty
    Left me and you to ri-i-i-ide"
     
  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Cool. I'd forgotten all about that song.

    :D

    Boxcab E50
     
  19. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

    10,534
    707
    129
    FTR- I live in Sherman, which is cheek by jowl to Denison, a one-time major Katy town (along with Parsons, KS). The first time I shot Katy power in Ray Yard was 1987, when I got pics of the retired switchers,all in either red or green & yellow colors. And yes, the roundhouse was still standing- I have a slide of a gondola in the roundhouse.

    My parents lived in Afton, OK, and while I was living in Hugo, OK, I would go home via US 69 which parallels the main. So, I was able to get MKT freights from McAlester to Big Cabin, plus a couple on Lake Eufala. Even back in late 1980, when Katy was rebuilding its main line, it was detouring some trains over the Frisco (which, ironically, it tried in vain to prevent its merger into BN) and lots of borrowed Conrail power was evident.

    Another great place to shoot power was Parsons in the 1980s- I need to scan in some of those shots & upload 'em into Railimages when I get time and the scanner.

    I do have some Katy models, and on my model railroad I have forbidden the presence of ANY cars with the Deramus-era "logo". May not be protoypical, but hey, it's my layout........ ;)
     

Share This Page