4-8-4 SLSF 4503 at Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA. Frisco and Baldwin crews in front. The SLSF 4503, a coal burning Frisco fast Freight (FFF) freight engine. It was the first 4500 on Frisco property. With driver diameter of 74 inches and weight of 474,520 pounds this was truly a huge machine. According to Joe Collias' book Frisco Power, pound for pound the 4500s developed more horsepower than any other 4-8-4. Twelve of these machines were delivered in August of 1942 and they were immediately assigned to handle the unprecedented war time traffic on the Eastern Division. Information and photograph courtesy of John P. Mann.
Hello Frisco Folks Here are some pictures of Frisco 4-8-4 Northerns SLSF 4500, 4501, 4502, & 4503 Enjoy, Rich Ship it on the Frisco!
I picked up this negative on eBay recently and it shows 4-8-4 SLSF 4503 still smelling of fresh paint and still sporting whitewalls. On the left side is what appears to me to be Lindenwood Yards, MP 7.1, in St. Louis, MO. I am basing that on the coal chute and sanding tower visible above the cars on the left side of the photograph. I also have shots of her in the yards prior to coupling up to her first train. And another of her leaving town with hotshot No. 37 taken from the Southeastern Junction, MP 7.3, interlocking tower window. Last shot shows the end in sight as she sits in the line to be scrapped. All of this in a little over ten years. What a shame!
This is from a negative I just picked up off of eBay a while back and shows 4-8-4 SLSF 4503 still in whitewalls from Baldwin. Location looks to be Lindenwood Yards, St. Louis, MO judging from the coal chute and sand tower in the background.
From Richard Crabtree on the Frisco Rails Across Missouri Facebook group. Here we are in the Frisco North Yards in Springfield, MO with Frisco No 4503 4-8-4 Northern Class built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1942. It is 1948 and we are in front of the Frisco coaling tower with the Jefferson Avenue footbridge in the background and 4503 has a full head of steam and is roaring to go! She was the sister engine to Frisco 4-8-4 SLSF 4524 that is currently at Railroad Historical Museum-Grant Beach Park, Springfield, MO. Photograph by Joe Collias, Donald Jon Wirth collection.
