Here is a recent acquisition of Frisco 4-4-0 SLSF 158 with train number 8, The Southwest Limited, at Lyons, KS. The old Frisco diagrams and rosters indicate that SLSF 158 was built by the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad during 1890. I have always been suspicious of this, and I have been looking though old UP rosters, and I believe the following to be true. The 4-4-0 SLSF 158 began life as UP 628, a 1889-built Schenectady product. During 1902, the UP sold the relatively new locomotive to the F. M. Hicks Locomotive and Car Company, Chicago, Illinois. They in turn sold it to the Frisco’s construction company, Arkansas Valley and Western (AV&W). It became the AV&W number 8. During 1909, the locomotive became Frisco 158. The locomotive's particulars: Cylinders: 18” x 24” Boiler pressure (BP): 160 psi Drivers: Centers, 57”; Outside diameter 64” Tractive effort (TE): 16,500 lbs Engine Weight: 103,000 lbs Tender Weight: 87,000 lbs Water: 3500 gallons; 10 tons coal, 900-1000 gallons oil (estimated) Close examination of the photograph reveals that the SLSF 158 is an oil burner. On August 8, 1905, the Frisco began a test project to determine whether or not crude oil could be used as a locomotive fuel. It began with the conversion of a single Kansas City switch engine, and the addition of a 900 gallon fuel tank to its tender. The Frisco built a 150,000 gallon fuel tank on the bluff above the 19th Street Yard. Oil was pumped to the storage tank by Standard Oil. The goal was to convert all 30 KC switch engines. By the fall of 1909, 85 of the Frisco’s 900 engine fleet had been converted to crude oil. The Frisco chief mechanical officer (CMO) believed that oil offered fuel cost savings when compared with coal, smoke abatement, lower fuel handling costs, better firing results, et al. Crude Oil: 138,500 BTU per gallon; Average weight 7.2 lbs/gallon; Bunker “C” 151,000-155,900 BTU per gallon; Average weight 7 lbs/gallon; Cherokee County, KS Bituminous Coal: 6.5% moisture; 12.5% ash, 3.3% sulfur, and 12,300 BTU/lb. At the time, not only was crude oil cheaper than coal, it had a higher heat content, with much less ash. I am still trying to determine when the switch was made from crude to Bunker “C”. Photograph is from my collection.
