Trains No 5 And No 6, The Texas Limited - Monett, MO-Paris, TX - Passenger Train Consists - 1925

Here are sample passenger train consists, trains No 5-6, from a conductor trip book.

8/11/1925
No 6, The Texas Limited
Paris, TX to Monett, MO

SLSF 1407 - 4-6-0 Locomotive - Paris to Fort Smith
SLSF 1048 - 4-6-2 Locomotive - Fort Smith to Monett
SLSF 369 - Baggage
SLSF 102 - Baggage
SLSF 1060 - Coach
SLSF 1288 -
1639 - Diner - Fort Smith-Monett
Langley - 12-1 Sleeper
Muskegon - Sleeper wood
Defiance - Sleeper wood

9/24/1925
No 5, The Texas Limited
Monett, MO to Paris, TX

SLSF 1048 - 4-6-2 Locomotive - Monett to Fort Smith
SLSF 1409 - 4-6-0 Locomotive - Fort Smith to Paris
SLSF 329 - Baggage
SLSF 1102 - Coach
SLSF 1067 - Coach
SLSF 1249 - Coach
SLSF 1636 - Diner - Monett-Fort Smith
Carrow - 12-1 Sleeper
Defiance - Sleeper wood
Muskegon - Sleeper wood

Trains No 5-6 at this time were the Texas Limited.
St. Louis, MO to Dallas, TX via Monett, MO, Fort Smith, AR and Paris, TX, with a through St. Louis-Galveston sleeper via the Gulf Coast and Santa Fe (GC&SF) connection Dallas-Galveston. The train also carried sleepers between St. Louis and Fort Smith, perhaps the two wooden cars? It include Fred Harvey dining car service between Fort Smith and Monett. South of Fort Smith, meal stops were made at Hugo, OK and Dallas, and north of Monett, the run was overnight to and from St. Louis with no food service required.

Bill Pollard

 

The Fred Harvey service on the Frisco lasted until 1930 when the new stands and dining car service ended.

I have often wondered if the Fred Harvey service dated from the period 1890-1896 when the Santa Fe controlled the Frisco?

It briefly creating what then was the largest railroad in the United States.

 

This is great information Bill! Thanks for sharing.

In my timetable analysis of the Central Division, I discovered that the peak of Frisco passenger train activity through Rogers, Arkansas was in 1906 (9 trains).

By May 1918, the frequency had been reduced to six.

In July 1928, through service from St. Louis to Paris, TX ended.

By May 1932, the Frisco passenger train frequency was down to four, and then in January 1933 only two trains, which would be the case until September 1965.

Thanks to Bob Oswald's compilation of Frisco timetables.

For a brief time in history, the Frisco's Central Division was a major route from St. Louis to Dallas and Galveston. It must have been a sight to behold!

Also, for the record, in 1898 the Frisco built a Fred Harvey Dining Hall in Rogers. It was destroyed by fire in May 1910.

There were some interesting train names on the Central Division - including "St. Louis Kansas City Mail", "Eastern Express", "St. Louis Limited", "Ft. Smith Joplin Accommodation", "Texan", "Little Rock Express", "Ozark Limited", and "Red Raven".

 

The Frisco's main passenger route to Texas was the Central Division until March 1917, when the joint Frisco-MKT Texas Special entered service.

The Texas Special was four hours faster than the Central Division trains and avoided helper districts at Chester, OK, northbound, and Talahina, OK, both north and south.

It was followed by a similar joint Frisco-MKT Blue Bonnet that operated from 1928 to 1948.

The Texas Special operated between March 1917 and January 1959.

The Frisco did operate passenger trains to Texas when the Red River route opened in 1901 but for some reason it never became the dominant passenger route between St. Louis and Texas.

Trains No 707/712 (Monett-Paris) were discontinued March 13, 1933, not January 1, 1933.

 

I don't have any ante-1907 Pullman data, which no doubt included the wooden Pullmans. On the other hand, the Carrow and Langley were new cars in 1925.

Langley, 12-1, Plan 2410F, Lot 4625 (25 cars), Built Jan-Feb 1922. Converted to Tourist Car 1672, 1/41; Sold to the MP 10/53

Carrow, 12-1, Plan 2410F, Lot 4665 (100 cars), Built Mar-Jun 1920. Converted to Tourist Car 1145, 9/41; Sold to the T&NO, 10/47, work car 211