Doug, thank you for the insights. Sometimes in doing research for models the reason for the existence of the prototype eludes all efforts to find out why it was built. The backstory can be very interesting as is the case here. Thank you. Larry
Larry, I'd forgotten to mention this one, but I'll echo Tom's thoughts. I'm happy to see a model in any scale of the Steam Generator cars. I'd enjoy seeing more photos, along with details on how you constructed this one, as time allows. Best Regards,
I recall reading a story in the StL Post Dispatch back when I was attending MSM - probably 1961 or so, maybe 1962. The subject of the P-D article was the Frisco's pioneering work on auto-racks (or was it TOFC?, I don't recall). Anyway, several of us were at Scott's drugs/bookstore in downtown Rolla around dusk. As we walked out of Scott's (smoking some Swischer Sweets we had purchased, ugh!) we heard the horn blast from a distant westbound heading into Rolla. We hustled the few blocks down to the Rolla depot in time to see the headlight rapidly approaching as it passed SLSF 1501 and the lake. It was an auto-rack (or TOFC?) train behind a brace of b/y F-units just hauling ass through Rolla with horns blaring. I recall thinking I was standing too close to the tracks as the cars roared by! The train was not very long, 20-30 cars maybe, but it was the definition of highball. Sorry I can't remember if it was auto-racks or TOFC's, but it was a pioneer train of either type, and was a solid consist of that kind of car. The P-D article said it was a fast train - for once they got something correct. I remember how quiet everything was after the train passed and headed down Rolla Hill heading to Newburg. Ken
Wish you'd had a camera handy, Ken. Great story; there's nothing like the quiet after a training has passed by, especially a Frisco highball. Best Regards,
Chris - I lived in a place on one of Rolla's main streets, not too far from the tracks. I remember late most nights shortly after bedtime, an eastbound freight would stop at Newburg, then shortly later, start up and begin the pull up Rolla Hill on its way to Lindenwood. Many was the time I would be lulled to a deep sleep listening to the chants of Frisco 567's climbing the hill. The horn blasts as he came through Rolla rarely woke me up. Times changed. Many years later, when son Kurt and I were hacking around the area on a fishing trip and spending the night at the Holiday Inn or Zeno's south of Rolla very close to the tracks on Rolla Hill, the blankety-blank dynamic brakes on the o/w power made such a loud whine they always seemed to wake me up. Ken
