I want to thank everyone for having the opportunity to join Frisco. A little about myself, my name is Bryan and I grew up in Benton County Arkansas. The Frisco and KCS have always been a fascination for me. Recently retiring, I have decided to follow up on a passion I have had since the age of nine, trains! You see Christmas of ‘76 I received a Tyco train set, the “ midnight Special”. That Baldwin RF-16 was amazing. I loved that set, and like many of us, I wished I still had it! My grandmother grew up in Hiwassee, And used to share stories with me about the train on the Bentonville branch. The Bentonville Brach, the Pettigrew Branch and what I call the Cherokee Branch have all held a lot of mystique for me as I looked upon those empty rail beds. I debated building my own fictitious railroad or to model one off of a prototype. Several months ago I settled on the Frisco, between Monett Missouri and Springdale Arkansas. During my research I discovered a little railroad, I had never heard about. The Cassville and Exeter. Not sure how I didn’t know about it. A few months ago my wife and I drove the distance between the two towns. I am going to take a little “Artistic License” and say an important fellow with Frisco, independently purchased the little C&E in 1956 and kept it going and added the Eureka Springs rails to it before they were pulled up. This will give me a little freight interchange and with trackage rights, a passenger excursion between Monett and Springdale. I am thankful for the information available in the group, but mostly I am amazed at the amount of knowledge possessed by the members. Again thank you for allowing me to tag along. BR
Welcome aboard! I received my first HO train set in about 1976. A “Spirit of ‘76” diesel. Great memories. I can still almost smell that electric motor after running it a while.
