SLSF Frisco 4500- a better view

friscobob Sep 26, 2011

  1. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

    10,534
    707
    129
    Was up in Tulsa last week, and went out to the west side of town to get another shot of the 4500. Since it was the afternoon, I was able to get a decent shot of the engineer's side of this oil-burning Baldwin:

    [​IMG]Of the 25 Northerns Frisco had, this was one of the three that were built as oil-burners and painted in this livery for passenger service, most notably the Meteor.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 4, 2012
  2. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

    9,709
    2,730
    145
    Bob, I thought this engine was in the Dallas (to be Frisco) museum. Nice paint job. :tb-biggrin:
     
  3. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

    10,534
    707
    129
    There is a 4500 class Northern in the Dallas/Frisco collection- I can't remember the road name, and it sits alongside Frisco/Eagle-Picher 1625 (one of the Russian Decapods) and a UP Big Boy.
     
  4. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    Sure does look more like MoPac royal blue than Frisco navy blue, does it not? Ah, well, she still looks good.

    No, fitz, she has been here since she retired. She spent many, many years in the Tulsa Zoo, where she got pretty rusty everywhere but her axles and pins. That was because a venerable Frisco veteran 'oiled her around' regularly for many years. When the zoo decided they no longer had room for her, she rolled right out.

    The original idea was to get her running, but money was never found for that. She is, however, now almost completely rust free and doing a very nice job of dressing up old Route 66. But I have to laugh at that 'Tulsa-Sapulpa Union' Pullman behind her. Don't know whose idea that was, but believe me that less than twenty mile long electrified trolley and transfer line never invested in Pullman accomodations...

    I can't talk about old 4500 without mentioning that the city of Springfield, MO is home to a sister of hers--4524. She is all dressed up in Frisco Fast Freight colors in a city park on Lynn just west of downtown. Springfield, of course, was the major junction point, headquarters, and shop location for the Frisco, and God bless 'em the rail club there keeps the old girl looking very, very good. The passenger cars attached to her are a small museum, and are loaded with the finest collection of Frisco photos I've ever seen in one place.
     
  5. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    IMG_0584.jpg IMG_0585.jpg IMG_0589.jpg

    Kind of an interesting little park they put in. The tank car has such an odd variety of oil companies on it because all have played big roles in the economic past of northeast Oklahoma. You can watch the BNSF shove cars over the hump from there by looking across the expressway. The old Pullman looks odd with that inappropriate road name and her windows blanked, but it's still nice to have her there.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    IMG_0590.jpg

    On a cloudy day, it looks more like Frisco navy blue.
     
  7. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

    4,870
    12,450
    92
    Regardless of what shade of blue she is, she's a fine looking locomotive.
     
  8. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    She is indeed, and major props to the fine people who got the rust off of her and got her looking so sharp. She was in real danger for a time, due to neglect during her zoo years. Now she seems to be protected from the cancer for a good while to come.
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Yes. It is good to see she is much better preserved. If the color is an issue, I am certain that can be better addressed at another time.
     
  10. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
    Well, at least the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway has a better chance of being remembered now, even if they had no such rolling stock.
     
  11. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    Not so much remembered as noticed. It's still around. As is the Sand Springs Railway.

    The one I worry about being forgotten is the Midland Valley. Not much left of that one.
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    I have a few pieces of MV paper in my train order collection. Maybe I should do up a page...
     
  13. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

    10,534
    707
    129
    As for the TSU, you gotta love an interurban remaking itself into an active shortline (like the Sand Springs Ry. across the Arkansas River). I especially like their stable of switchers- their short wheelbases are needed for the light rail as well as the tight curves at the St. Gobain glass plant in Sapulpa.

    The HO scale Claremore & Southern up in Claremore, OK features both railroads in model form, and has locomotives in schemes for both.

    One side note- the display site of the 4500 is across I-44 from the west approach to Cherokee Yard, and you can hear the squealing of car retarders in action on the hump.
     
  14. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

    10,534
    707
    129
    Go here for a page on the Midland Valley, as well as the rest of the so-called "Muskogee Roads", which were headquartered here where I live.

    As far as track goes, there's 5 miles or so in Tulsa and Jenks served by the TSU.

    In Muskogee, Shopton Yard still exists, albeit as car storage, and the line still goes several miles further south, ending about 3 miles south of town along US64. The sole customer on this line is DalTile, and they keep quite busy. That track is 1/4 mile east of where I live.

    The Ft. Smith yard is now home to the Ft. Smith Trolley Museum.

    There is still a bridge that used to carry the MV over Oklahoma State Highway 9 near Stigler.
     
  15. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,344
    5,868
    75
    Yeah, except it's I-244. The Frisco was an early convert to hump yards, and the Cherokee was a pretty early example of the type.

    The Pedestrian Bridge in Tulsa, which is part of the River Parks and is near 31st St. on Riverside Dr., is an old MV bridge, and the bike trail from downtown to that spot is the old MV right of way (as is the bike trail on the north side of town). And I think it's a little over five miles; the little yard at about 41st St. between Elwood and Union is an old MV yard, and the surviving line extends from there to the Kimberley Clark plant. Wish our funky old MV station had survived...

    Thanks for the page on the MV! Good man.
     

Share This Page