Arvard Connection

[meteor910]

I just received my copy of the First Quarter 2010 issue of The Warbonnet, the fine publication of the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society. In it is a long article (15 pages) on the Avard, OK connection between the ATSF and the SLSF.

I haven't read it yet, but much of the article deals with the Frisco, and provides much information on the interchange and run-through traffic between the two railroads and how important it was.

There is lots of Frisco stuff in the article - a really nice SLSF system map, SLSF & QA&P freight schedules from The Official Guide, and pics of SLSF 5005, 650, 801 & 802, 937, 907 (as BN 6657), and cabs 1272 and 1730 (as BN11704).

Good issue. The Warbonnet is one of the better railroad historical society publications.

Ken

[tommyguy]

As a new member scrolling through the various message boards I came across this one.

I was stationed at Ft. Sill OK when the changeover was made from Quanah to Avard. It was in September of 1973 and there was even an article about it in the Lawton newspaper, which is how I learned of it.

I recall reading that a Frisco official told the paper that the new route was shorter, faster and less costly for Santa Fe traffic. He said ATSF traffic, "always should have" been routed that way.

Prior to that there were freights through the Lawton area very frequently. Some days a freight every couple hours. Plus a daytime local freight that ran one direction one day and return the next. After the change there were just two OKC-Quanah trains I think. Nos. 3210 and 3211. I think the local was still running too.

Needless to say it was a big disappointment.

I used to railfan the line on weekends and luckily the two freights that were left operated in the daytime. I seldom saw 3210, the eastbound, that train apparently went east in the morning. On weekends I usually saw 3211 around 3PM-4PM.

Something else I remember about the Chickasha Sub in that time period. In the summer of 1972 trains featured all kinds of Frisco power. I saw the SD45s, U30Bs, even a F9 B unit once. By the time I began photographing the trains -- and recording engine numbers (using a roster I had acquired) -- everything ran with GP38s and GP38s only. Except for the local which continued to be assigned a GP7.

From the roster I learned Frisco was using three kinds of GP38s on the line. GP38, GP38AC and GP38-2 (which were then pretty new). But that's all there was on the road trains. Weekend after weekend all I saw were GP38s.

I'm not sure when the power assignments were changed but I began photographing the trains in about March 1973.