Why does this loco (see attached pic) have a round number plate instead of the coonskin? From information gathered from this site this loco was built for the Frisco and not one of the predecessor lines. Any ideas?
Tim - Hmmmph, that's a tough one. My guess was going to be for a predecessor line or another line in the Yoakum Empire (C&EI, CRI&P), but maybe not. Do you know the date of the photo? I'm also trying to peg its location - maybe just north of the depot? The bluff to the east doesn't look too high, which makes me think the photographer could be pointed roughly E-SE for the photo. That side-door, brakeman-crippling caboose is a dandy. Best Regards,
Not all Frisco steam had the coonskin on them. This one looks earlier than some others. Also it may have lost the coonskin and had it replaced. On a side note, How come the 4500's never had coonskin plates? They just had the rounded off rectangle ones. Ship it on the Frisco!!! Murphy Jenkins
re: 4500's I suspect the lack of coonskin number plates on the Frisco 4500's was simply a wartime economy move for the most part. I think when they were delivered from Baldwin they had no front number plates on them at all. However, at least SLSF 4511 ran for a while with a coonskin plate under its headlight. Ken
Given the lack of a turbo-generator and a comparison with a couple of diagrams, I believe that the image ante-dates 1916.
I recall 4 4500s with coonskins. 4505,4508,4511 and 4513 if memory serves. They were probably added after front end trauma. Remember, a lot of the 1500s didn't have them either. Mostly in the 1520-1529 series.
It's a bit of a trick question. The tender was designed to look that way. See the diagram http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/sl-sf-970-989-2-8-0.5113/
Karl, the photo certainly jives with the drawing. Is it safe to say that the normal order of the coal bunker and water tank were reversed? It seems that the coal pile in Tim's photo sits higher toward the back of the tender. Tim, any kinfolk of yours in the photo? Best Regards,
