Hi, I found you all while researching Frisco steam engines. My Grandfather, Leander Coburn, was a fireman for Frisco from abut 1915-1920. I have a couple of his time log booklets from August 12, 1917 thru December 3, 1917. He lived at the time in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. He was also a fireman for the Cotton Belt from about 1910-1915. I have a lot of different engine numbers that he logged in his Frisco time books and am interested in seeing photos of them. Thank you very much, Mark Poley
Mark, Welcome Aboard. If you would care to share your grandfather's log books, scan them and post the images on a new thread under Historical, Operations.
Thank you Keith and Joe for the welcome. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Keith, the trip log books are pretty fragile, I don't know if I can scan them without them falling apart, but I will see what I can do. There about 50 pages in each booklet, some pages are already damaged or missing. I went through them and noted the engine numbers that Grandpa had been on and there were 50 different engines listed. Thanks again, Mark
Mark, the information in those log books is valuable historical information and a look into daily operations in a location that we don't have much old information. Posting on this forum is a good way to preserve that information for posterity.
Welcome aboard, Mark, and looking forward to any details or particulars about your Grandpa that you are able to share. Best Regards,
Thank you Chris, Robert and Tom for the warm welcome. I don't know a lot about my Grandpa, he died about 6 years before I was born. He was living in Jonesboro AR and a fireman for the Cotton Belt RR from about 1910 to about 1916 when he moved to Salpupa OK to work for Frisco, also as a fireman. He lost his first wife in 1912 and met my Grandmother at Hugo OK. She was working as a Harvey Girl at Hugo. Grandpa left Frisco sometime between 1920 and 1927 and went to work as a machinist for Tidewater Oil Co. He retired from Tidewater in 1948. They lived in Drumright, OK from 1927-1948 where my mother was born in 1934. I would like to find out more about his time with the Cotton Belt and the Frisco railroads. I do have a photo, if I can find it, of a group of men standing along side of a Cotton Belt steam engine. We assume that he is in the photo, but aren't sure which one he is. Thanks again, Mark
Mark, Welcome as a member. Nice to see a new member from Yellville. Until recently I lived in Oakland and Mountain Home and still have a place on Bull Shoals in Marion County. In the late 1990's we would take excursions on the White River Railroad based in Flippin and Cotter. With Mr. Adams, one of the owners, we had a dinner train with no others on the train. That trip was from Cotter to Bergman and return to Flippin, up in the northern mountains' route passing through Yellville/Summit. Normally the excursions were down along the White River south to Calico Rock and return. Did you get to take any of those excursions? Mike Sypult, editor of the Scrambler newsletter, [Arkansas Boston Mountains Chapter of the NRHS] in December gave a historical presentation about the White River Railroad and the route through Yellville/Summit. I think Mike's presentation will be posted in the Scrambler in Feb. 2021. If not already, you can sign-up at http://www.arkrailfan.com/ to receive free monthly Scrambler issues, that often contain information about the Frisco. You can read prior Frisco issues at http://www.arkrailfan.com/page/5133. We will be looking for your next postings to frisco.org. Thanks, Charles
Thank you Charles for the warm welcome. Thank you also for the links to the Scrambler newsletter and the video presentation link that you sent me , I will check them out. I never got an opportunity to ride on the White River RR, either direction from Flippin would have been a beautiful trip. Thanks again, Mark Poley
