When my mother was in the Army during W.W.II she took Frisco from where she was stationed in Springfield, Missouri to Hugo, OK where she had to change trains and get on a mixed freight for the last leg into Ardmore. She was not familiar with the equipment, which from her description sounds like a caboose with extra seats for paying passengers. What class of caboose might this have been?
Russ, I think in one of my Frisco books it says something about hauling passengers in cabooses. I don't recall any further details.... I'm sure someone else will know. Charlie
When I worked on the Current River Branch from Willow Springs MO to Winona MO we hauled passengers. Before that the line went all the way to hook up with the River Divison between Chaffee MO and Memphis Tenn. The Cabooses had side doors for frieght loading and unloading also seats for passengers. locoengr
Folks: I know that mixed #875/#876 between Chaffee MO and Hoxie AR used Car #844 - a old open-vestibuled combine (part coach, part baggage) with a caboose cupola on the top. I think Colias' "Frisco Power" includes a photo of this car toward the back of the book but I'll have to check at home. I also think that Richard Napper did an article on modeling one of these toward his MMR designation and wrote an article in Caboose Kibitizer. Best Regards,
The Frisco Museum in 1995 published "Consolidated Car Shop Freight Car Diagrams , No. 5 Frisco Cabooses 1906-1980". It has drawings for a number of Frisco cabooses that carried passengers and baggage. Tomd6
I am presently trying to purchase ex.FRISCO caboose SLSF1186, which is a center cupola side-door caboose, built by the FRISCO shops in either Springfield or St.Louis, Mo. Although most of the interior was destroyed by fire (thx winos)- I believe that the caboose did carry a small number of passengers as well. If anyone has any information on this caboose, please post! The caboose is shown in this library with a list of ex ATSF cabooses and is said to be wooden outside braced. That is in error, it is metal outside braced. The photos just look that way. billkarisch
I believe that there is a picture on p 11 of the FM that depicts the car that your mother took from Hugo to Ardmore. Looks like it's a Jim Crow affair. http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1930_11/fem_1930_11_11.pdf
