Okmulgee Northern Railway Company Locomotive - GE 70-ton ON 7 - Frisco Locomotive SLSF 12 - Inquiry

April,

The Okmulgee Northern (ON) Railway Company was a short line railroad that operated in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma.

Its roots date to the Coalton Railroad founded in 1916. The railroad's freights operated between Okmulgee and Dewar (Deep Fork). It served industries in Okmulgee and the coal fields around Dewar, Coalton and Schulter. It had interchanges on the north end with the Frisco at Okmulgee and at the south end with the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf (MO&G)/Kansas. Oklahoma and Gulf (KO&G) Railroad at Deep Fork.

It operated over 21.931 miles of line. It owned 12.041 miles of track, 10.331 miles of main line and 1.710 miles of yard and siding tracks. The railroad operated passenger service only over an additional 11.6 miles of trackage rights on the MO&G/KO&G. The through passenger only service permitted the railroad to operate its trains between Okmulgee and Henryetta, Oklahoma. This also permitted connecting service to and from other larger railroad lines. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MKT of Katy) Railroad made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the railroad during 1923.

Coal field production along the line peeked in 1948. As production in the area faded the line saw falling revenue and fell on hard times. It petitioned to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to abandon its main line. Abandonment was approved 5/18/1964. The railroad ceased operation on 6/27/1964. Shortly afterward, on 8/12/1964, the Frisco acquired the railroad's remaining assets including industrial trackage in Okmulgee and its locomotive ON 7 *.

The locomotive was built in August, 1950 by the General Electric (GE) Company. It was an end-cab switch engine locomotive, model 70 Ton, builder serial number 30453. It was built on batch / order number 281-7015. The 2 truck, 4 axle, B+B wheel arrangement locomotive featured a 6 cylinder, 500 horsepower diesel engine. It did not have fixtures or wiring for multiple unit (MU) operation with other locomotives.

The locomotive was numbered 7, painted blue, with an engine compartment white stripe with the railroad name in blue letters and all other lettering in white. On the cab sides, below the windows were the company circle with triangle herald surrounding the engine roster number. Below the herald the locomotive was named for and featured lettering for C. R. Musgrave. Underframe components and trucks were black.

In later years the ON would repaint the unit in a simplified paint scheme. The main car body color remained medium blue. The engine compartment white stripe with road name was eliminated. Centered on the cab sides below the windows was the full road name with the unit number below in white paint. The underframe, trucks and pilots were painted black. Also, in an effort to improve visibility to motorists at grade crossings the side sills were now painted white. In addition, a centered downward pointing triangle with six diagonal white stripes, three each side of the coupler, were added on the black pilots.

Once acquired by the Frisco the locomotive was sent to the company's main shops in Springfield, Missouri. It received a modest relettering noting its new owner "FRISCO" on the engine compartment hood sides and on the cab sides new assigned unit number "12". Lettering and numbers were done over the original blue in yellow paint. The unit was then placed into storage. There was little use on the system for the "new" small, low horsepower, non MU equipped unit at the time. The Frisco retired and sold the locomotive in 1965.

The former ON locomotive was sold by the Frisco to locomotive dealer United States Railway Equipment in Chicago, Illinois on 9/1/1965. They in turn sold it to Andrew Merrilees, Limited. It was shipped to and stored at their facility at 189 Old Western Road, West Toronto, Ontario, Canada. That company in turn sold the locomotive to the Lake Ontario Steel Company, Ltd. during December, 1968. The steel company is located at 1801 Hopkins Street, Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

LOSCo repainted the locomotive orange, with a white, and later light blue, engine compartment hood stripe, banded top and bottom with black pin stripes, that contained in black paint the full company name. On the cab also in black paint on the base orange color it was lettered and renumbered with centered "LOSCO" and below the number "2". From the running boards down the side sills, steps and trucks were black.

The remaining former ON industrial trackage at Okmulgee was handled by other larger Frisco units used in switching and local service. This typically included Fairbanks Morris (FM) H-10-44 and H-12-44 and General Motors (GM) Electro Motive Division (EMD) model GP7, GP38AC, GP38-2 four axle units.

* As part of the transaction the Frisco also acquired a second ON locomotive, ON 8. However, it was immediately deemed undesirable and was not added to the Frisco locomotive roster.

This locomotive was a center cab model 44 ton. It was built by Davenport Locomotive Works in Davenport, Iowa. The unit featured serial number 2351 and carried a builder's date of 1/15/1942. It was originally sold to the Missouri Pacific (MP or MoP) Railroad. That railroad rostered the locomotive as their unit MP 810. A unique feature of the locomotive were Pyle National style headlight with flared number board castings atop the engine compartments hood ends.

Upon its first retirement, the MP sold the unit to the ON on 12/11/1956. The ON was retiring its last steam engine at the time, was looking for a suitable replacement standby locomotive, arranged a deal and they purchased the locomotive. The unit retained its somber all black paint scheme. They relettered the locomotive for their railroad and renumbered it to ON 8 centered on the cab sides.

The Frisco sold the unit to secondhand locomotive dealer Hyman-Michaels Company in Alton, Illinois. Still painted all black with silver lettering and numbered for the ON it was sold 5/1/1966.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!

Mark