Army Inductees To Fort Leonard Wood - Chicago-St. Louis Via GM&O - St. Louis-Newburg Via SLSF

I was looking at a listing of GM&O train consists with data recorded from dispatchers' sheets. I think Fred Frailey put it together, but I'm not sure.

In the listings for August 1966, GM&O trains No 5 and 6, the Midnight Special, between Chicago and St. Louis, show two lightweight sleepers. These were regularly assigned daily, except Saturday southbound and except Sunday northbound, with a third car available as an extra. Included was the notation "Army Inductees" and the note "to/from Newburg SLSF".

The cars used were the GM&O 8-4-3-1 sleepers Timothy B. Blackstone and J. M. Brown and "various foreign line sleeping cars". The cars would obviously have been handled on trains No 3 and 4 on the Frisco.

The next earlier set of GM&O consists was August 1962, the next later August 1970 and there is no mention of such a move.

Does anyone have either personal knowledge of or documentation of this as being a regular, 6-day/week operation?

How long did it last?

By 1966, the Frisco would have had spare Pullman 14-4 sleepers and I wonder if any of them were in the pool?

Gordon

 

Ken888

I still recall the Officers Basic Course.

I had gone thru ROTC at the University of Alabama where the bad-*** sergeants had a problem because we all were wearing shiny new gold 2nd Lieutenants bars.

I still quake when I recall "All Right, all you Sirs, LISTEN UP!'

Gordon