My grandmother lived in Fall River, KS where the ol' Frisco line went through town. Some of my fondest memories of that little town is the trains that would pass through at night...of course, I've gotten older and now I'd just like to educate myself just a little bit more of the workings of that line. Nothing too dramatic!
I've never heard of crews going all the way through from Springfield to Wichita. In the BN days up until the sale to Watco the crews were based out of Springfield or Wichita and you had a Springfield-Neodesha-Springfield turn and a Wichita-Neodesha-Wichita turn. No crews were based out of Neodesha and it was a very rare occurence to overnight there. This comes from several former Frisco/BN employees including one of the last depot agents assigned to Neodesha. John Chambers
Hi Gang, I have been a Frisco follower since I was a very little boy. My Grandparents lived in Prescott, KS close to the railroad tracks and I used to watch the Frisco trains go by. I would even stay up late at night when I heard the whistle and watch them out of my window too. My Greatgrandfather worked on the Gulf railroad before it was the Frisco and I had a cousin who was an engineer for them in the 1930's and 40's out of Kansas City. I saw the last steam engine and the last passenger train go by on this line when I was little as it was on the Kansas City news and I walked to the tracks at Prescott to see them. Also, I have taken train trips from the old Prescott depot (I'll try to get a picture of it and post it for your forum as it's not there), the Fulton depot, the Ft. Scott depot, and Union Station in Kansas City. Whether it is sentimental at my age, or just childhood memories and interest, I have always had a thing for the Frisco. --- Rex Smith
My grand parents lived in Fall River alongside of the tracks. It was a major part of my life and memories of my grandfather who worked on the Frisco tracks for years up until his retirement. My father used to ride the train from Fall River to Wichita daily to attend college. My mother rode the train from Severy to Wichita to attend college/school, that's how my parents met. I found out that the original Fall River depot burnt to the ground in 1907. I cannot find any information on the rebuilt depot. I had heard the last depot was damaged in a derailment and not rebuilt. I have not yet found any mention or records of any kind on the last depot. My father rode the train from there in the early 1950s. Anyone with any information on the depot in or after 1907, or even old aerial photos, please post. Thanks.
I worked on the track out in the Fall River area. Just wondering who your grandfather was or is? As I remember, most trains ran at night. They may have just turned at Neodesha, rarely did crews stay on line. They really did not run many trains period. Bill Jackson
I am not sure exactly when the Wichita train went from Night to Day running. I know that during the late 60's while I was a student at Wichita State, I had to cross the tracks to get to classes. Often time the 8 pm class required carefull planning as the train went by the U in the 7:30 + time frame. I know that in the 70's, the arrival into Wichita was close to 5 pm. and the departure was called for between 7 and 7:30 pm. At that time, they were only running 1 scheduled train a day in from Neodesha and a new crew would take the train back. They would lay over in Neodesha and catch the train back to Wichia, etc, etc. During the 70's, the Frisco ran this schedule 6 days a week. After BN, it became a tri weekly set up at some point. Tony
My grand fathers name was Fred Ames. He retired approximately 1978. My fathers name is Donald Ames. He never worked on the railroad, but was raised in Fall River.
Yes, the depot was damaged by a derailment and I think I remember seeing a photo somewhere of an F-Unit crashed into the front of it. In later years it was moved directly across the tracks and became a storage building for the local CO-OP. I have a couple of photos of it and will post when I can find them. The train order signal sat in the grass for several years at the location of the structure.
Ames is not a name I recall. Well too bad, I thought there might be a chance. There was not too many people that worked track out there period. As far as train schedules, we generally was able to work all day without clearing fo a train. That is what I remember. That was quite a line, the roadmaster was Tuffy Graham, he was a pretty good guy. That would have been in the mid 70's. Bill Jackson
I have some questions so here goes: (1) If I remember correctly, during that period of time there was a boxcar or two on posts in Severy next to the old depot behind Coble Feeds that were used for MOW storage. There was also a MOW truck parked there at times. Was that the HQ point for your gang? (2)Also, there was an MOW man out of Wichita that had the word "SHOCK" written on the font of his helmet. Did you know him? (3) Did you help clean up the wreck that happened just east of Beaumont? (4) Did you know the Engineer out of Neodesha by the name of Bob Hare? I feel that I can speak for the group that if you are willing, please post any stories, tales, of remembrances of your experiences.
At Severy, the patrol gang was headquartered there Ronnie Glover and I think he lived there. Shock, actually it was Shockley, he was the welder out of Wichita, really a good person. I worked a Speedswing on the line from Joplin all the way to Burton. Mainly we changed rail and ties. I think it was 76 or 77 when we had a 9 inch rain and washed out almost everything, there was nothing left but track, all the fills was gone. That was quite a job. Even into the 70's they still did old time maintenance like cutting rail with a chisel and breaking it. Beaumont was a neat spot, most of the fills out there is cinder. In winter when a snow came, we would go out and look. The snow would melt quickly in areas where the cinder were on fire under ground. They had to be dug out with a dozer and put out. If you let them burn then you would end up with a void under ground that could collapse. I worked several derailments out there. Too many. I will write another time Bill Jackson
I do know Bob Hare, I am trying to remember. He was quite a character. I think he and I hung around together for a while. Barfly's you know. Bill Jackson
Most of the derailments on the Wichita line was unmemorable. Low speed. I did work one in the city area that was somewhat bad, 5 cars and tore out a switch. Phillipsburg Mo. Was real bad, Roadmaster Dobbs called me up and said we had a derailment with a car of bombs, he said they told him to pick his worst man and worst truck and send him on down. He said that I was the first person that came to mind. 42 cars the hook and all, although it was in the middle of nowhere, there was people there before the RR police. That included me, 2 cars of Boones Farm wine, there was bottles hid everywhere, you could not step on anything. If you go down there, with a metal detector you might find two auto racks of new Cougers just buried. It was not worth trying to get them out. Three cars of Blue Jeans just buried, minus 5 pr. of my size. It was common then to work long hours. I worked 48 hrs. straight. We eat on the diner, they brought out, it was the only time we sat down. The best was the lights on the hook at night. Lots of chemicals, fire and so forth. We finally opened, I think after three days. I am wanting to say it was late 1972. Bill Jackson
You might check out this thread: http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread...stone-quot/page2&highlight=phillipsburg+wreck Lots of stuff about the Phillipsburg wreck. I was there and took some pictures, interesting discussion and postings. Tom G.
Thanks for the post. I remember that the fire was hard to control. I do remember the white powder, it was every where. Bill Jackson
Well I looked at the photo's. That is what it looked like. Boy, what a reflection. Thanks a lot. Brings back the smell, sweat and the fatigue. Bill Jackson
Hey William - do you remember anything about a six axle loco (probably a Frisco SD45) derailing on the Wichita line in the seventies? I read in another Frisco.org forum that was the reason six axle road power was no longer used on the Wichita line. Do you remember anything about it? Love your posts! Thanks! -Pete |-|
Well, I worked out there in 75, 76 around that time. I did here about not running 6-axle power. Most of the line was 90# rail, with some curves a little heavier. Not a good place for big road horses. I worked a couple of small derailments near the west end, but am not familiar with the one you are talking about. Bill Jackson
I remembered now Bob Hare, he got a 30 day suspension a couple of times for derailments. I knew that name was familiar. Bill Jackson
