This date in history may not mean much to most of you, but to the Friscophiles among us it's the day that the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was officially merged into the Burlington Northern. Ironically, this merger was delayed by a protest from the Katy. AT M-day, Katy was rebuilding its mainline in Kansas & Oklahoma, and was using Frisco rails for detour. Almost immediately, diesels and cabooses began showing up with BN initials and road numbers. With 445 locomotives, BN didn't take long to renumber everything, and over time the Mandarin Orange & white disappeared under a coat of Cascade Green and black, as BN extended its reach to the southeastern US, and Pensacola, FL. Not long after the merger, two routes- the Quanah, Acme & pacific and the Winding Stair line from Poteau to Antlers, OK were abandoned. Frisco was the second small Class 1 to vanish (Rock Island being the first) in 1980, but the following decade would see a flood of mergers and spinoff lines. Frisco has been gone these 25 years, but it has not been forgotten.
i was just in kindergarten then, but growing up near the frisco mainline i remember my dad talking about it..... it's kind of sad, i still get a kick out of the old coonskin beast
Bob- The Rock wasn't exactly small. It was over 9000 track miles. Don't feel too bad. It's now been over 35 years, for those of us who loved the Northern Pacific RY. And saw it's being swallowed by Mean Green. Boxcab E50
