Caboose Kibitzer Frisco Articles

The NMRA's Mid-Continent Region (MCR) includes membership very well represented here on frisco.org. Since many of us are also model railroaders, the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) membership is a natural. The NMRA has published a lot of Frisco-related material over the years.

The MCR's publication is called Caboose Kibitzer. Rick McClellan wrote a four-part series about modeling the Frisco that was published in the Caboose Kibitzer back in 1991. I checked with Rick and got permission to share it here.

This series should be required reading for anyone doing Frisco-prototype modeling. Call it FRISCO MODELING 101.

Part 1 appeared in the March 1991 issue and is attached. Major column headings:

WELCOME
FIRST SOME HISTORY
NEAT LOGO. JUST WHAT IS IT?
SO HOW DO I GET STARTED?
WHAT TYPE OF ENGINES DID THE FRISCO USE?
WHAT ABOUT OPERATIONS ON THE FRISCO?
HOW DO I PLAN A LAYOUT?
HOW CAN I GET MORE DETAILED INFORMATION?
LET'S GET TO WORK!

It also includes neat prototype photos, a system map, and a table of interchange roads.

Hopefully, this is new to many of you. Enjoy, and thanks again Rick.

DJH

 

FRISCO MODELING 101 Part 2

Part 2 (Motive Power) of Rick's article appeared in the June 1991 Caboose Kibitzer. Major column headings:

TWILIGHT OF STEAM
DAWN OF DIESEL POWER
SECOND GENERATION DIESEL POWER
MODELING FRISCO DIESELS
* SW7 #304
* F3A #5001
* GP7L #516
* U25B #813
* U30B #836
* GP38-2 #683
* GP35 #728
* SD45's
FRISCO PAINT SCHEMES
FINAL NOTES
FRISCO READING LIST
FRISCO TIME LINE (for the various diesel types)

Enjoy the attached.

DJH

 

FRISCO MODELING 101 Part 3

The "Rolling Stock" issue appeared in the September 1991 Caboose Kibitzer. Major column headings were model photos for:

100 Ton Hopper 88323
Open Hopper 92308
Covered Hopper 79350
Covered Hopper 182086
Gondola 63006
Boxcar 153145
Boxcar 15519
40' Vans 405893 and 2297459
Tank Car 190284
Transfer Caboose 1318
Local Caboose 1145
Wide Vision Caboose 1289
Bay Window Caboose 1730

EVEN MORE CARS
CURRENT FACTORY PAINTED FRISCO MODELS
THE OFFICIAL RAILWAY EQUIPMENT REGISTER

Enjoy, DJH

 

FRISCO MODELING 101 Part 4

The "Passenger Equipment" segment was printed in the December 1991 Caboose Kibitzer. Column headings:

NAMED TRAINS & THEIR CONSISTS
* TEXAS SPECIAL
* WILL ROGERS
* METEOR
* TWIN METEORS
* FLORIDA SPECIAL
* KC-SPRINGFIELD
* BLACK GOLD
* FIREFLY
MOTIVE POWER OF PASSENGER TRAINS
* 1500 CLASS MOUNTAINS
* 1000 CLASS FIREFLY PACIFICS
* 4300-4310-4400 MOUNTAINS
* 4500 CLASS NORTHERNS
* EMD E7A
* EMD E8A
* EMD FP7A
* EMD GP7L
PASSENGER TRAIN EQUIPMENT
* HEAVYWEIGHT 72' RPO/BAGGAGE
* HEAVYWEIGHT 72' BAGGAGE CAR
* STREAMLINED 85' COACH
* PULLMAN HEAVYWEIGHT 8-3-1 SLEEPER
DEPOTS
SUMMARY

Enjoy, DJH

 

FRISCO MODELING 101 FOLLOWUP

I was so impressed with Rick's series that I submitted a little followup article with suggestions on era choice and steam modeling tips. The information was basically updated from various FMIG Newsletters. It appeared in the March 1992 Caboose Kibitzer and is attached. DJH

 

Doug,

It was a generation ago that those things were published (18 years) ! By today's standards, those products and methods are rather primitive. We have really been spoiled by all the great products coming out in the last 10-15 years.

In that generation we had to kitbash or scratchbuild almost everthing we needed and we did without a lot. Now we have (or will get in the next few months)

1. Brass International Cabooses (3 Overland runs, 1 undec, 1 decorated, 1 on the way)
2. Plastic International Caboose (Atlas)
3. Wood Cupola caboose kit (West Springfield Shops-Davidson/McClellan)
4. Terminal Caboose kit (Molo)
5. GP7s in Black (Atlas)
6. B30-7s in O/W (Atlas)
7. GP38s in O/W (Atlas)
8. U30Bs in O/W (Atlas on the way next year)
9. SW9 in O/W (Broadway)
10. USRA 0-6-0 (Proto 2000)
11. USRA 2-8-2 (Broadway)
12. USRA 2-8-2 (Genesis)
13. Grandview Depot (Blair Line - Dale Rush)
14. F3A/B (Genesis)
15. FA1/FB1 (Proto 2000)
16. E8A (Proto 2000)
17. SD40-2 (Athearn RTR)
18. GP35 (Athearn RTR)
19. GP40 (Athearn RTR)
20. GP38-2 (Atlas Trainman)
21. F7A/B (Stewart)
22. U25B in O&W (Stewart/Bowser)
23. SW1500 (Athearn)
24. FP7A/F7B (Intermountain)

This partial list of Frisco ready (or almost ready) products is really amazing if you stop and think about it. I didn't even list the cars.

It just keeps getting better too.

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

 

Hey Rick:

You forgot Alco RS-1. Seems like I saw one in a 1/87th scale Ft. Scott yard you might be familiar with.

John

 

Yep that's the trouble with lists. You stand a good chance of leaving something out. But what a list. I would never have dreamed that we would have all this nice Frisco equipment available leaving us more time to BUILD LAYOUTS. The time has never been better to build one.|-|

Today's Frisco fans can buy not only Frisco painted equipment, but it is ready-to-run and, with some locomotives, are ready to set on the track and run out of the box.

Back to the Kibitzer articles . . . Maybe the most valuable thing we can glean from them is how easy it is today . . . .

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

 

Hello,

I just finished reading the Kibitzer articles. Great Job! Part 4 is first time I have seen information on all of named trains in one place. Learned more from that part than what I knew about Frisco passenger service before.

Rick, you could not be more right about lists and whats available. I started making a list of N scale Frisco equipment about seven years ago. When the list got to around 125 items, about three years into the project, I thought it was about finished. No new items had been added for about a year. Then new releases seem to come out of several factories so the list steady grew. With the economy slow down, in last year, more older models started showing up on ebay and in train shows. Last August the list stood at 234 items. I joined this website that month and with the help of just two members, Charlie Dix and Larry Shankles, found another 50 items. If there is so many in N scale, can you imagine how large the HO list would be? To see my list go to Manufactured N Scale Releases in the Modeling of the Frisco - General forum. I will be posting a new revision in about a week.

Thank You,
Joe Lovett

 

We should thank Doug Hughes for doing all the scanning and uploading of these fossils to the All Aboard website.

I would also like to thank the late Lee Buffington and the late Jan Jester who provided lots of passenger train information for the final installment.

Finally, thanks to Craig Rector whereever you are. (Jeff City?)

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick