Well, I've been lurking here on and off (mostly off) for six years now, so I reckon I should introduce myself by defining my connections with the SL-SF: - I'm born 'n' raised in the Alton, IL area but my father's family is from Lockwood, MO where we used to visit my relatives once or twice each summer during the sixties and seventies. I was used to the Penn Central / Illinois Terminal / GM&O / ICG / Conrail crap where I was from, so I at least knew a good railroad in the Frisco but I didn't understand its significance (it was, of course, the Ash Grove sub). My grandfather lived just a couple of "town blocks" away from the station, so when the trains sounded their approach to the town I beat feet to the station to see them run through (at sometimes ridiculously unsafe distances ; ) ). I barely remember the last few passenger trains passing through and a few sets of train orders being hooped up to the crews. Spent quite a lot of time walking the right-of-way looking for souvenirs (spikes, tie plates, etc). - Got my degree from UMR later (BS-EE, '83) and during that time I fell into my old habits walking the railroad (indeed, I spent one summer in a house just a few hundred feet from the Main St bridge, near where the new Phelps County Courthouse is located). I saw places on the railroad like Newburg, Monett, etc but didn't understand their significance at that time (I do now). Saw a Loram rail grinder tied up for the night undergoing maintenance in Rolla, then seeing it in action east of town the next day. Besides local stuff for EmpireGas, BowWow Dog Food, etc. there was also a weekly local based in Rolla, which I will describe elsewhere. There was also a HEAVY coal unit train run-through from somewhere west, that I will also describe elsewhere. - During that same time I visited the Illinois Railway Museum and saw live steam (J. Neils 5 and of course SLSF 1630) for the first time in my life. Boy was I ruined after that. - I was a passenger behind SLSF 1522 (tip o' the hat to Don and the rest of the SLSTA heroes) on its ill-fated run up to Hannibal when a BN freight derailed at West Alton behind it, forcing the train to lay over in Hannibal after being turned at West Quincy and requiring all of the passengers to return by bus that night. - So now I find myself in northwestern Florida next to a crotchety poor excuse of a railroad (the CSX P&A sub) that CSX is now trying to sell off. Nothing much to see; move along. It's a far cry from the Frisco, let me tell you. But I do know where the Frisco's southern terminus was in Pensacola and Mobile and I have seen what little is left there. When I first saw SLSF 1355 it struck me as a very odd looking locomotive (ugly, actually) but at that time I didn't realize that it had been rebuilt from a Consolidation. - Oh, yeah: Karl and I are (extremely) distant cousins, via SEVERAL marriages. We figured that out back in 2012.
A belated welcome aboard, and thanks for sharing the stories-good stuff. I've always liked the "Metro East" lines, if for no other reason than they were good interchange candidates for the Frisco, either directly or via TRRA.
...via Lockwood, MO . Spent a lot of time there myself, and rode the train to/from there on numerous occasions.
Welcome fellow Miner! BS Chemical Engineering here, 1964 - we were the very last MSM graduating class. Fell in love with the Frisco during my time there, 1960-1964, and many visits to Rolla since. I knew the SLSF from the St Louis perspective, where I am from, but got to know the SLSF intimately while at Rolla. I also experienced Newburg while some of it still existed, from Sunday night visits for a meal at the Houston House, and am forever a Newburg fan as a result. Ken
Update: Looks like the CSX Tallahassee and P&A subs have become Gary Marino’s latest toy. 373 miles of water-level Class 4 DTC track with lots of curves and speed restrictions and hardly any origination (CSX kept the Port of Pensacola, and there’s no interchange with The Bay Line). By CSX’s own reckoning the line was already underperforming. Someone tell me how this is supposed to work...
