Frisco Moonshine Special???

Discussion in 'General' started by SLSFU25B, Nov 30, 2018.

  1. SLSFU25B

    SLSFU25B Member

    Quick straw-poll: how many here know or have heard about some "questionable" freight traffic the Frisco quietly handled during the 1920's and early 1930's?

    As the title of this thread - my warped riff on the MoP's "Sunshine Special" - hopefully makes clear, we're talking about Prohibited liquor here, Friends and Neighbors. And it's a fascinating bit of lore, as will be seen.

    The story in a nutshell is this: throughout nearly the entire time of the Volstead Act being the law of the land, certain SLSF conductors and engineers padded their Depression-thinned wallets by running countless thousands of gallons of illicit fire-water to various on-line establishments across most of the entire system. One such establishment was located fairly close to the Springfield sub, perhaps a mile and a half west of Windsor Springs' commuter "station." It was a lovely building made entirely of "native stone," that had been extracted from the old Sunset quarry that was hard by the MoP's then-single track line through Barretts, Mo.

    Unlike most other speakeasies, this particular establishment actually drew more income from its' day-to-day status as a classy inn, rather than the illicit traffic it also procured on a regular basis. Nevertheless, the booze trade was lucrative enough; so much so, that in 1921 the inn actually dug a tunnel between it's basement, and a convenient cave that opened directly onto the Frisco tracks. All so it could receive the precious outlawed liquid 100% on the QT. Initially, there were several lost or at least heavily damaged shipments, due to the fact that the hooch was simply thrown off the train, which had slowed but didn't stop. Hardly a good or efficient way to do business, it was quickly agreed.

    Thereafter, whenever a delivery needed to be made, the train would stop just long enough to carefully offload the shipment, before continuing the journey. Anyone not in the know who might ask what the slight delay was all about were usually told the same thing - "burst air-hose," or "broken knuckle," and nobody ever picked up on the subterfuge, so far as is known. Just how much money changed hands will likely be never known for sure, but it's a safe bet to assume it was lucrative enough to perpetuate the clandestine shipments until the very end of Prohibition in 1933.

    Now, how do I know such lore is true? Simple - as a youth, one of my Aunts worked at The Green Parrot Inn {as it was officially known since the Thirties}, and she took me down to the basement and showed me the double-padlocked door that led to the cave. Whilst I didn't actually get into the tunnel proper that first time, I eventually did, and traced it all the way to the cave, which still bore hundreds of hashmarks carved into the walls; one for each delivery made. Sort of "Flintstone Bookkeeping," if you will.

    And thus was a vivid memory born - and a fascinating bit of Frisco lore confirmed.
    Pretty cool, no? :D
     
  2. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    Very plausible story that I will check with Kirkwood Historical Society at the next opportunity.
    The 1940 USGS 7.5 minute Kirkwood quadrangle shows a building at the precise location of the Green Parrot. The original routing of Big Bend Road went around the north side of the Green Parrot leaving the area south and west of the Inn undeveloped up to the Frisco tracks. Sometime before 1990, Big Bend got a more direct alignment south of the Green Parrot between the Inn and the tracks. The rest of the area stayed fairly free of development until 2003 because Google Earth images from that time show the clearing for the Sommet housing project.

    I sure miss the Green Parrot's family-style fried chicken dinners, but it has been a long time since those were offered.

    One nit-pick: The Frisco called it the Rolla-Lebanon Sub or the Rolla Sub rather than the Springfield Sub.
     
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  3. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    An interesting read for sure.
     
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  4. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    George -
    Caroline and I also both miss the Green Parrot. Both our families went there often, of course, we didn't know each other then. The fried chicken was wonderful, and they had the best Spanish Rice I've ever tasted. And, if you were lucky enough to snag a table in the dining room close to the windows on the back right side, you could see the Frisco tracks and a signal light! Loved that place.
    A visit to the parrot in the big cage outside was always in order, and I loved looking at the mounted bonita and dolphin above the door coming into the building from the front porch.
    When did they close? Long time ago - sometime in the late 1960's-early 1970's?
    The Green Parrot was certainly another factor in the reputation St Louis has long had as a great restaurant city. And they weren't even Italian!
    K

    ps - We were talking about StL this week end. We both love living here in Naples right on the Gulf, but Caroline and I both admit to missing St Louis a lot, and of course our many friends there. No family left, either passed on or moved. It's been a year since we have been back. I am way overdue for a "Hill fix" or two! Naples is a very good resort restaurant city, in particular for sea food, but there are only three Italian restaurants here that I think would stand a chance of making it on the Hill, and even so they would need to lower their prices to be competitive.
     
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  5. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    George -
    Did the Kirkwood Historical Society ever get a lead on a picture of the original Kirkwood depot at Kirkwood Road (Lindbergh Blvd) and the tracks - northwest corner?
    There has to be one somewhere!
    K
     
  6. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    The Green Parrot served its last fried chicken in Kirkwood in June 1983, apparently. It was a spin-0ff of a Kansas City establishment according to the link that incidentally confirms the speak-easy in its history.

    http://losttables.com/parrot/parrot.htm

    I have no word from the Kirkwood Historical Society whether they have found any pictures of the two-story, pre-1930 Kirkwood station
     
  7. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Wonder any of those cars mad it to the other end. Bad Order, had to set it out, at the dock easy to get to, course for the Carmen to fix it.
     
  8. SLSFU25B

    SLSFU25B Member

    There were apparently two other "speaks" on the Rolla sub; one in Times Beach, and the other one just on the outskirts of Pacific. As a teenager, I remember stumbling across the foundation of the Times Beach place, just before the "Dioxin scare" of the early 1980's. It was on the north side of the tracks, about a thousand yards away from the ROW. IIRC, it was about half the size of the Green Parrot. The locals said it had remained in business as a legitimate saloon after 1933, until it burned down in '68 or '69. The MoP had a speak too - smack dab in the middle of what is now Castlewood Park, just across the Meramec River from Times Beach!!
     
  9. FriscoGeorge

    FriscoGeorge Frisco Employee

    Just about a 1/2 mile west of the old coaling tower and roadhouse in Newburg was a old barn located about a 100 yards off the tracks in what was called "Moonshine Hollow" It was a local stop off area for numerous hobo types that made the hooch and then hopped a train out of town. Local legend says that they even had a "Hobo Cemetery" up the hollow from where they made hooch. That makes sense to me because as a young man I remember hunting up there and coming across some kind of grave marked only with rocks that had "hobo writing" on them. I don't know if it is still there or not since I have not hunted those hollows for well over 40 years now.
    FriscoGeorge
     
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  10. friscorr

    friscorr FRISCO.org Supporter Frisco.org Supporter

    On the Burrton sub, there was this bump in the road called Carters Spur. It was at that point that the rails entered the Sand Hills. The Sand Hills was known for being a place where you could easily bury moonshine, and to a greater extent, stills. At Carters Spur sat a store or gas station that had a "back room." Now Kansas had engaged in Prohibition longer than the National Prohibition, so folks had a little more time to develop their wares. In addition to home made hooch being passed around, there was an abundant amount of gambling that of course went hand in hand with running moonshine. Many raids and busts were made here. 0.jpg 1.jpg 2.jpg
     

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