My name is April. I've been lurking for a bit but wanted to introduce myself. I grew up in Vinita (Oklahoma) and recall the Frisco well. I lived in the former Frisco hotspot of Tulsa for about a dozen years until recently (living near Afton, OK right now). Anywho, I have a few questions on operations through my home town (plus the four state area) in the 1960's-70's era I will be asking in the near future.
Welcome Aboard, April. We have a lot of very knowledgeable people on the site, and Tulsa is near to a lot of peoples' hearts.
Greetings from a former resident of Afton. My family moved there in 1973, and we had a presence there until Mom moved to the Nine Tribes retirement apartments in late 1998 (Dad is a permanent resident, being buried in the cemetery north of town). I remember seeing (and hearing) quite a few Frisco hot freights tearing the town apart, and saw quite a bit of foreign power, including a Sand Springs Ry. switcher running light to Springfield for work, and back (also light) to Tulsa. I've shot Frisco, Big Nuthin', and Buffet's New Super Frisco trains on & off over the years. I admit it's cool to see stackers and oil trains rolling thru Afton, but I miss the QLA roaring thru in the wee hours.
Afton was intertwined in my early years. I was able to ride the Frisco passenger train from Vinita to Afton due to my Kindergarten class went on a field trip to visit Buffalo Ranch (back when it was a tourist trap and not just a convenience store like it is now). All the Moms would load us kids (about 25) on the train and drive the 15 miles and pick us up at the station and on to Buffalo Ranch. I do not recall much about the train other than the windows were really dark green on the passenger car we were riding. Also when my Mom picked my Brother and myself up at the station and we were fussing enough in the back seat to distract her and she accidentally backed my Dad's nearly new 1966 Mustang in a wooded post in the station parking lot. (my Dad flipped out when he found out his "baby" had a dented bumper). The heck with whether my Mom or us kids were hurt. Speaking of my Dad, his father worked at the railroad shops there for a few years during the Depression. He confided that the railroad would make extra money and keep the workforce busy by replacing brake shoes on many a foreign road freight car (and then bill the car's owner). Whether they needed it or not. While I lived in Vinita the Afton area was part of my stomping grounds during my High School years (late 70's). If I recall correctly the coaling tower was still standing at that point. April
The coal tower came down in the mid-70s. The depot lasted until the early 1980s, when BN closed the agency and sent in the bulldozers, razing it to the ground. I have a picture of the Afton coal tower taken by a local Baptist minister, who had posted it on the Afton, OK Facebook page.
