"The Bluebonnet" in Cuba, Missouri

Discussion in 'Action Photos' started by rjthomas909, Apr 11, 2018.

  1. rjthomas909

    rjthomas909 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    St. Louis - San Francisco (Frisco) Railway's de Luxe passenger train - "The Bluebonnet" (jointly operated with the Missouri - Kansas - Texas Railroad) train No. 8, northbound, headed by Engine No. 4501, a Northern type 4-8-4 locomotive, rolls on the high iron at a speed of a mile a minute through the town of Cuba, Missouri, enroute to St. Louis.

    [​IMG]

    Plummer, Roger S.["The Bluebonnet" in Cuba, Missouri], photograph, 1948~;(texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth28877/: accessed April 11, 2018),University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Museum of the American Railroad.
     
  2. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Interesting that one of the "Meteor" painted Northerns was assigned to anything other. Wondering if it had been bumped by the newly arrived diesels/streamlined set and had not been repainted quite yet?

    Best Regards,
     
    Sirfoldalot and Ozarktraveler like this.
  3. rjthomas909

    rjthomas909 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    It looks like a number of the Texas History citations may have errors. I would not put too much into the transcribed text from their site.
     
    Sirfoldalot and Ozarktraveler like this.
  4. frisco1522

    frisco1522 Staff Member Staff Member

    I've seen photos of them on freight trains in the blue & white.
     
    Sirfoldalot and Ozarktraveler like this.
  5. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Yep, I've seen little errors in collections ranging from the Barriger collection on Flickr to photos in the Springfield-Green Co. Library collection. I guess on one hand, responsibility for correcting these sorts of things lie with us to point out and correct, so that erroneous information doesn't get stuck sitting out there for perpetuity.

    That said, I guess this could be either the Bluebonnet or The Will Rogers. ETT 35D shows #8 through Cuba at 9:06am; #4 about an hour later at 10:06am.

    Best Regards,
     
    mountaincreekar and Sirfoldalot like this.
  6. So was the Bluebonnet the 4501 as stated and was a 4-8-4, different than the 1501 and 1522, which were 4-8-2?
     
    Sirfoldalot likes this.
  7. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Let’s not confuse the locomotive with the train. The Frisco’s, three oil-burning 4-8-4’s, 4500, 4501, and 4502, received the Zephyr-Blue and White, Meteor livery. When built, the locomotives were intended to pull The Meteor, Trains 9 and 10. Only two locomotives were required for this service, and the third locomotive was purchased to protect the other two, when one of them was unavailable. As Don noted, the oil-burning 4500’s were used where and when they were needed between St Louis and Tulsa, so on any given day, it would have been possible to see something other than 4500, 4501 or 4502 on The Meteor. If the photo date is accurate, then as Chris notes, the diesel EA-7 units are handling The Texas Special and The Meteor, and the new diesels have made the 4500’s surplus power, and thus we see 4-8-4, 4501 in charge of the joint Frisco-MKT Bluebonnet. The Frisco discontinued the Bluebonnet April 30, 1948.
     

Share This Page