Here are images of the Frisco Lines and Rock Island heralds that were on one of the old railroad bridges that was removed when they were redoing I-40 in downtown OKC several years ago. These logos adorned the South Robinson street bridge which allowed both railroads to pass over Robinson to access the station. The concrete pieces the heralds are on are 5 feet 8 inches by 4 feet 8 inches. The bottom portion with the heralds are 22 inches thick and each piece weighs around 9500 pounds. They had adorned the overpass from 1931 until removed in 2010. They are both in place at the Oklahoma Railway Museum for public viewing.
Glad they were saved! The RI herald is unique, just as the SLSF herald is. Both railroads had great personalities, and I'm a fan of both. The Rock ran right down the middle of my grandfather's farm located west of Gerald, MO along US-50. We used to go there to fish, shoot, fly kites, and hike, so as a kid I saw the Rock often. They usually had an afternoon westbound freight behind a couple of those neat red, black & white geeps. When we lived in University City in the StL area, we were two blocks away from the same RI line. The first two issues of "Remember the Rock" magazine had very good feature articles on the RI StL-KC line. K
If I'm picking up what Sherrel is putting down as the kids say, I think Illinois Terminal is in the clear and its the BN that turns his and many of our stomachs. I, too, find the Illinois Terminal quite endearing. Those heralds might be the most unique pieces of railroadiana I've seen. Very glad you found a way to save them and share the photos.
The IT locomotives are lime green, quite different from the puke green of BN. Edit: Changed to a better photo. Joe
