The Frisco had two variations of standard TOFC ramp, i.e., dirt-filled and timber. The Standard Plan Book circa 1979-1980 does not show a concrete ramp. During the late 1920s and 1930s the Frisco added ramps at many locations for the purpose of unloading new automobiles from flats and boxcars. The Northern Division Bridge and Building (B&B) inventory shows one at Greenfield, MO. I will post a URL later.
Thanks Karl: This would make a great modeling project and probably not that hard to build. May need one at Fredonia.
Neat drawings, Karl. Were you one of the crowd watching Chris Carpenter's performance last night at MMP? I think the ramp in Cape Girardeau circa mid-1990s in the background might have filled the purpose that you describe. http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?1161-Cape-Girardeau-MO&p=8303#post8303 I'd presume that these types of ramps would have been located at "team" tracks for the recipients? If so, to echo Bob's comments, a team track/ramp can serve as justification for spotting just about any type of car for any type of recipient. Best Regards,
The Frisco also had an unloading dock for lack of a better term, here in Parsons. It was on the East side of town and served a industry called Wilson Lumber. It was a concrete wall that had dirt backfilled up to the wall on the southside of the tracks. I believe it has been removed but I will drive down a take a look. The City of Parsons recently turned that part of the Frisco Line into a short Bike Trail. Bob Wintle
The Frisco listed these piggyback ramp locations in a document dated November 1961. Kansas City Springfield West Plains Joneboro Memphis Tupelo Birmingham Mobile Pensacola St Louis Joplin Monett Vinita Tulsa OKC Chickasha Ft Sill Altus Floydada Rogers Okmulgee Muskogee Henryetta Ada Sherman Ft Worth Dallas Wichita Enid Clinton, OK Bytheville As mentioned previously, the Frisco placed ramps to facilitate automobile unloading with ramps that antedate TOFC. The URL links to a drawing of the ramp in Greenfield. http://www.frisco.org/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=2216&d=1140073463
The 1974 "List of Stations" book has the following TOFC ramps listed: Aberdeen, MS Ada, OK Birmingham, AL Blytheville, AR Cape Girardeau, MO Carthage, MO Chickasha, OK Crystal City, MO Durant, OK Enid, OK Fayetteville, AR Fort Sill, OK Fort Smith, AR Fort Worth, TX Frisco City, AL Henryetta, OK Irving, TX Jonesboro, AR Joplin, MO Kansas City, MO Lamar, MO Lawton, OK Memphis, TN Miami, OK Mobile, AL Monett, MO Muskogee, OK Neosho, MO Oklahoma City, OK Okmulgee, OK Osceola, AR Paris, TX Parsons ,KS Pensacola, FL Rogers, AR Sherman, TX Springdale, AR Springfield, MO St. Louis, MO Trumann, AR Tulsa, OK Tupelo, MS West Plains, MO Wichita, KS If I typed those in correctly, there should be 44 total. Paul
One other point of reference for now, I think I still have one later list. The 1969 "Station Master" lists 43 TOFC ramps, but not all of the locations are on the 1974 list I posted last night. Those on the 1969 list that are not on the 1974 list are: Altus, OK; Clinton, OK; Sikeston, MO; Vinita, OK; Winfield, KS Those on the 1974 list which are not on the 1969 list are: Cape Girardeau, MO; Frisco City, AL; Lamar, MO; Parsons, KS; Springdale, AR; Trumann, AR Paul
In the final years, the Frisco also used the TOFC ramp area of 29th Street Yard here in Wichita for container unloading. Was that the case in other locations?
The piggyback ramp at Carthage, MO is concrete. My uncle, Wayne Edgerton, was on the B&B gang that built it. He took me on a tour of the bunk cars while they were in town. This would have been in the late 1960s. This ramp is still in existence, although I doubt that it has been used in quite a few years.
