Does anyone know what the consists for the Kansas City-Florida Special and the Sunnyland looked like around 1950, especially between Memphis and Birmingham?
I did some poking around the old FMIG newsletters and found a letter from an unknown writer in the FMIG "Second Section" Newsletter #4 that seems to describe mid-to-late 1950s consists for both in and around Merriam and Lenexa, which is decidedly not Memphis-Birmingham, but as close as I can find for now. KC-Florida Special (105-106): "...the train was usually made up like this: two E-8's, three to five sealed express cars, a working baggage car, a thirty-foot RPO, two or three chair cars (one of them lightweight), two Pullmans (one lightweight 14-4 Frisco or Southern one heavyweight), and one of the heavyweight diner-lounges with red paint and stainless steel fairing." Sunnyland (107-108): "Usually the 'Sunnyland' carried an E-8, two K.C.-Memphis sealed express cars, K.C.-Memphis thirty-foot R.P.O., K.C.-Tulsa thirty-foot lounge-buffet. The two Tulsa cars comprised the remnants of the Firefly, Numbers 117-118 south of Ft. Scott.
Try this link, in Condrenrails. These are 1957 consists at Memphis. https://www.condrenrails.com/Frisco/Frisco-Passenger-Train Consists.htm And these are 1961 consists. https://www.condrenrails.com/MRP/Frisco consists 1961.pdf Enjoy. Ken McElreatb
Really appreciate your posting these, Ken - I swore I'd seen something that you'd shared in the past, but was limiting my search to the FMIG newsletters. This information is fabulous!
Thank you both very kindly! I love head end traffic, so I'm quite pleased to see that the Frisco handled a fair bit of it.
This may duplicate what you already have: Sunnyland #107, winter 1955-56, Memphis to Birmingham: Box-storage mail Refrigerator (ex. Sunday) Storage mail (from St. Louis) Baggage (from Springfield) RPO-baggage 52-seat "Jim Crow" coach (partitioned) 60-seat coach 12-2 sleeper GS
