Did Frisco use their Mike's for just freight or did they see some passenger use? If so, what class of locomotives were used? Did Frisco use their 4500's for freight only or for freight and passenger? Were the regular passenger cars painted Pullman green? I mean regular passenger cars like commuter or short routes, NOT like the named trains including the Meteor or Firefly.
I believe the Mikes were freight locomotives, but if they were needed, I'm sure they pulled passenger trains. The Frisco tended to use 4-4-0s, 4-6-0s, 4-6-2s, 4-8-2s, and 4-8-4s to pull passenger trains. The 4500s were used for both freight and passenger service. The first ones were oil burners and were assigned to passenger trains (maybe the Meteor?); the coal burners were for fast freight. I'm pretty sure they could switch hit. Most of the Heavyweights cars were a dark green with gold lettering. Pullman green is close enough to my eye. I think ACF built most of the Frisco's passenger fleet, but there were some second hand Pullmans. I hope someone more knowledgeable than me chimes in. There are a bunch of really sharp people on this site.
I will take the first stab at these questions . . . but I will yield to the experts (Don, Ken, Tom, etc. just about anybody). I will have to check my books regarding the Mikes on passenger service but my initial thought is "yes." I will check tonight when I get home for a more accurate answer. Mainline passenger service, as I understand it, was handled mainly by the 1500 Mountains, three (I believe) oil burning 4500 Northerns and the 4300/4400 series Mountains. Big power for big trains. Do you have any of the following books? Frisco Southwest - McCall Frisco Power - Collias Frisco Steam (?) - Stagner These are out of print but have fantastic photos of a wide variety of SLSF steam. I have one extra copy of Frisco Southwest so contact me directly if you are interested. Frisco Power is still available from Don Banwart in Fr Scott, I believe. These books will answer a lot of your questions and be great reference material. Heavyweight car color. Hmmmm it's really hard to tell in b&w photos. The late Jan Jester was a fan of Scalecoat II Pullman Green. Again, I will yield to the experts. I have a couple of heavyweights in SC Pullman Green and they look pretty good. Hope this helps some and I will get back with more solid answers unless the experts have time to jump in. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Frisco heavyweight passenger cars were a dark green, "Pullman" green is really close if not exact, with "imitation" gold lettering. I've been cautioned it's NOT "DuLux" gold (that's a brand name) though it's commonly called that, but a dark, yellow gold. Hard to describe, but darker than a lemon yellow. Oddballs Decals has it about right. The roofs vary from a light gray, as in the "Dove" Gray from the 1940's blue and white scheme, to a dark gray later. All the roofs were discolored by engine exhausts. Also some roofs were black, both painted and a tar over canvas treatment that looked like paint when freshly done. Trucks were black, but all these colors weathered in varying degrees. The Frisco usually kept car sides washed and painted, but roof and underbody of cars were pretty well weathered. Here and there on this chat board, are color photos of Frisco passenger cars. Tom
The 1060-series 4-6-4 hudsons, rebuilt from 4-6-2 Pacifics, and some of the 1400 4-6-0's were also used for passenger power.
Regarding the 2-8-2 Mikados . . . There were three number series, 4000, 4100 AND 4200 series. I checked the photos in the Collias Frisco Power book and there were no photos of a Mike in passenger service. In the book, Joe sez that the Mikes were used mainly on the River Divison and the divisions west of Monett on modest sized red-ball freights. The photos would certainly back that up. Doing more checking . . Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Here is a more complete list of steam engines in passenger service taken from the photos in Joe Collias' Frisco Power book. 2-10-0 Russian 1600 Series 4-4-0 200 and 180 Series 4-6-0 700, 1100 and 1400 Series 4-6-2 Pacific 1000 Series 4-6-4 Hudson 1000 Series 4-8-2 Mountian 1500 Series 4-8-2 Hvy Mtn 4300 and 4400 Series 4-8-4 Northern 4500-2 oil burners, 4519 Depending upon how accurate you want to be and how much money you have, there was a wide variety of engine classes in passenger service. It should be noted that some classes of steam engines were restricted to specific divisions, such as the 4500s that were generally confined to the Eastern Division per Joe Collias. Availability of SLSF steam engines could affect the territory you choose for your layout. But then there is always Rule 1. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
I'd take Rick up on his offer of Frisco Southwest. It's a good book. I looked at my copy last night, and it shows Mainline Passenger, branch line Passenger, Mainline Freight, and branch line Feight, and the pictures reflect the breakdown above, though I wasn't aware the Russians were used for passenger power. I've never seen a photo of a Mikado in passenger service, either, hence my weasely response earlier.
Amen on "Frisco Southwest" by McCall & Schultz being a great addition to one's Frisco library! Years ago, after the book first came out, Don Wirth took mine and his and maybe a couple of others somewhere and had them hardbound. Glad we did that - I've used this book for reference often. It's a great supplement to the several other Frisco books we are fortunate to have available. Ken
