One Response to Francis, Oklahoma Depot

1. Terry Jankowski says:

   December 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM

   Another memory. Francis was the division point between the Creek sub (Tulsa to Francis) and the Sherman sub(Francis to Sherman, Tx.). We changed crews on the fly trying to have the speed down to 5 mph (didn’t always make that speed, but you had better get on regardless). I was never told why the change of crews without stopping, but I assumed it was because the south bound trains had crested a hill just north of the depot, and it made it easier for the Sherman crews to mount a train already moving. We stayed in a two story rooming house across the tracks that cost $2 a night, and believe me the old adage that you get what you pay for applied. No ac in the summer, broken down beds, rooming with some one who snored (one in particular could disturb the whole floor he was on), smelly pillows and mattresses in spite of clean linens made for a less than desirable environment–not to mention the trains blowing the crossing just south of the depot. When we finally got into motels (Sherman on the interdivisional runs of the early 70s, and Ada when the Frisco went back to Francis for crew changes when the interdivisional runs were canceled), we thought we had finally arrived in paradise.
   One other note: the water in Francis tasted so badly that no amount of coffee could disguise it. Sherman and Francis were eventually closed as division points and Madill became the single division point between Tulsa and Irving. I don’t remember which railroad made this change as I was working yard engines by that time.

   Terry

   Log in to Reply