there is a frisco passenger car rotting away behind a metal fence on divison st with broken windows dont know much about it can just see from the windows up
I forget which car that is--I think one of the Meteor lounges 1651 or 1652. It was one of the cars parked in front of the Kentwood Arms hotel on St. Louis street in the 1970's. Some scrap dealer thought he was going to get rich selling it to a rail fan. Tom
It has been setting at its present location for many a year now. I remember seeing it there either in 1979 or 1980. Bob Wintle
what was the address of that hotel on st.louis st? sorry for al the questions but im fairly new to railroading and didnt get to see the good old stuff im just stuck with seeing the newer stuff,over 800 photos i have taken of newer bnsf and other odd ones on a bunch of old depots i have taken photos of again thanks for your time
That was the Kentwood Arms Hotel about a block East of Kimbrough on the south side of the street. It's now the "Kentwood Hall" of Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University, formerly Southwest Missouri State COLLEGE and for years just known around here as "Teechurs College"). Three Frisco passenger cars were placed on the property. Two together, if front of the hotel, the third about a block away as little sports bar-diner type places that were terrific flops. They just stood there rusting after they closed. The two in front were a diner (ex-diner-observation) and a chair-buffet-lounge. The third car, which was damaged when it was placed on its foundation, was also a chair-buffet-lounge. All were original Meteor cars. Tom
The car on division street is #1651 the "Ladue". I posted photos I took of the car several years ago here: http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?posts/21008/ I have a more recent photo or two after some of the trees were removed, but I'll have to find it (I'm in the middle of a computer upgrade, and that set of files hasn't been restored yet). Paul
Which "Ladue" did the car name reflect? Was its namesake the St. Louis County community? Was it instead the Henry County community usually spelled "LaDue?" I suspect it is for the St. Louis County community because other car names included "Normandy" and "Huntleigh." Is there a cross-referenced list of names and numbers for cars in this class? George
George - Yes, it was the St Louis County Ladue, MO. Mike Condren's web page has a section in it which contains all the Frisco car diagrams for The Meteor and the Texas Special lightweight cars. They will provide you all the reference information you are looking for. Ken
Thanks Ken for steering me to Mike Condren's web page http://www.cbu.edu/~mcondren/Frisco_SL_Pass.htm for the answer to my question whether there was a list of names and numbers for the lightweight Texas Special and Meteor cars. If frisco.org does not have the answer, somebody can steer you to where it is! George
St Louis city and St Louis county community names were replete in the roster of the Frisco lightweight streamlined cars used in The Meteor and the Texas Special consists. I seem to recall hearing these names were selected based on the residence locations of various SLSF executives working in the St Louis HQ. Can anyone confirm that is correct? Examples: Rock Hill, Normandy, Valley Park, Manchester, Maplewood, Olivette, Pasadena Hills, Clayton, Ferguson, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, University City, Webster Groves, Ladue, and Huntleigh are all 'burgs in St Louis County Baden is a part of St Louis city (north along the river) Picardy Lane is a subdivision in Ladue in St Louis County I lived my childhood years in University City, and my high school years in Normandy. It was always like seeing a little bit of home during my college time at MSM when one of my "home" cars was in the consist of #9 when I saw it make its Rolla stop. We often took a study break to catch The Meteor and then go grab a greasy burger and a Coke at the Wee Chef a block across the tracks from the depot. #9 was surprisingly good about being on time during those years - 8:24pm. Ken
There was a photo article the late Frisco Museum's "All Aboard" about Picardy Lane. That was evidently the street that Clark Hungerford and his family lived on. There was a photo of his daughter pointing to the name plate on the car. Tom
Life can be good when you are the Boss! An acquaintance, who probably had an adjoining back yard, once mentioned "Mrs. Hungerford" some time in the late 1980's (I guess?). Recalling the conversation, I get the impression she might have been a grand lady of the "steel magnolia" type.
