H-10-44 273 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (James Primm).
Location is Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The locomotive is spotted outside the west end of the diesel shop at East Yard. The Fairbanks-Morse locomotive fleet was concentrated in Oklahoma, with the shop in Tulsa as the primary maintenance shop. This permitted the Frisco to concentrate maintenance expertise, special maintenance equipment and parts supply at a single location. The Tulsa shop was equipped with special high level platforms to work on the F-M units.
The 16 unit F-M fleet was primarily used in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Muskogee. To help facilitate movement of the locomotives between station locations the Frisco equipped the F-M locomotives with class lights. These were mounted high on the locomotive’s nose. This permitted the locomotives to “display signals” to operate over the road as extra trains.
Note also the oil well derrick in the distance beyond the right front handrail.
Baggage Car 462 Springfield, Missouri (Mike Condren).
Location is Springfield, Missouri.
SLSF 462 is a converted former coach troop sleeper built during World War II. After the war the government owned 1,200 coach sleepers and 400 similar design troop kitchen cars. The War Department retired many of the cars from 1947 – 1950 and sold them to American railroads. The Frisco purchased 15 former troop sleepers. Two were converted into working baggage cars (SLSF 450-451) and thirteen were converted into storage baggage cars (SLSF 452-464). As seen in this view SLSF 462 is considered a standard box car (note the lettering designation XM).
Photograph was taken at the West Shops at Springfield/Kansas Avenue/West Yard. The building in the background is the old paint shop at the extreme southwest corner of the larger shops complex. The west shops complex was originally constructed 1907-1909. The storage baggage box car is sitting a track immediately west of the old paint shop. Above the car door is the northwest corner of the old paint shop.
Near the yellow posts protecting the fire hydrant is the southwest corner of the concrete wall of the 80’ x 1,338’ transfer table pit. There were two 80’ single track transfer tables that traversed east and west within the pit. They serviced the shops on the north and south sides. The transfer tables were accessed from the north by tracks from Benwood Yard and the Clinton Subdivision main. Access tracks were at the extreme east and west ends of the pit and there were two tracks located between the main erecting and coach shop buildings. Note in this view the west transfer table is aligned with the track with the storage baggage box car. Visible on the transfer table is a handrail and just behind is one of its track’s wheels.
Progressing east to west on the north side of the transfer table pit is the 173’ x 566’ main system machine and erecting shop for locomotives. It had 25 tracks on a north-south axis and contained 107,171 square feet of shops area. It stood 40’ tall and had three longitudinal raised skylights. Next was a series of garden holding or storage tracks. Then came the 208’ x 376’, 32’ tall, 77,460 square feet, 11 track, coach or passenger car shop.
Progressing east to west on the south side of the transfer table pit is a 115’ x 415’, 46’ tall, 18 track, boiler, tank and tender shop. Next was a small 12’x 40’ single story frame locker and wash room. Then came an additional single story wood frame tank shop. This L-shaped building measured 60’ x 200’ x 80’ and stood 30’ tall. Next was a 10’ x 25’ wood frame bulk paint storage warehouse building. At the far southwest corner stood the 183’, x 184’, 23’ tall, 8 track, sawtooth roof, paint shop building.
On the east end of the complex, but not served by the transfer tables, were from north to south the 102’ x 245’ forge shop, the 60’ x 161’ company stores department and the shops complex 118’ x 161’ power house building with a 217’ tall smokestack. These buildings were serviced by tracks from the east.
Adjacent to the east was a 100,000 gallon, 150’ tall, metal water tower, a pump house, several wells and a concrete underground water storage tank. An outdoor overhead crane way, locker/wash rooms, various lumber, battery, material, sand, pipe storage warehouses, and several fire hose reel cart buildings rounded out the shops complex.
Business Car 2 in 19th St Yard, Kansas City, Mo in August 1976.
Photograph was taken in 19th Street Yard, mile post 0.0 (MP 0.0). The business car is sitting just south of the access road to the Mechanical Department’s service tracks and diesel shop area. In the distance to the right of and partially hidden by the tree is the southeast corner of the single track diesel shop. The shop is located at 1900 Allen Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64108.
Standing above the caboose roof is one of four standpipes for unloading diesel fuel tank cars. The horizontal pipe is a steam line from the boiler room in the southwest corner of the diesel shop. Just south of the diesel shop are two repurposed tank cars each mounted on a concrete saddle cradle. The tanks hold lubricants and waste oil.
There are several interesting features of note about the business car. The car has been turned in preparation for a trip south from Kansas City. The steam line connection to the left of the coupler has been removed. The underbody piping remains; however, by this time the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems were entirely self-contained on the car. Note the various underbody battery boxes, fuel tank holders and equipment between the trucks.
Starting from the rear of the car the side windows include 2 in the observation lounge, 4 along the hall, 2 in the dining room, 1 at the steward compartment and 1 in the kitchen. On the roof are multiple antennas for radios, telephones, televisions and a couple of kitchen ventilators. Also, someone has left a Coca-Cola can on the car’s end buffer.
