Frisco Lead Line Ore Train

[klrwhizkid]

Attached is a photo that I purchased of a Frisco Lead Line Ore Train supposedly between Cuba and Cherryville, Mo.

Photographer unknown. SLSF #587, SLSF #540 and SLSF #525

As usual for me, anything Frisco I own/purchase that can be scanned and posted has been unless I am aware of any copyright applied.

[Sirfoldalot]

What a great find, Keith. Your photo really shows very clearly the rooftop detail of the GP-7.
It is a gem of first quality

[meteor910]

If those are concrete ties, the location would be between Lead Jct and Cherryville, Mo. We always crossed the line on Mo 19 just before Cherryville on our way down to our favorite fishing lodge when I was a kid. It was neat seeing those clean looking concrete ties.

Ken

ps - Agree with Sherrel - very easy to correctly detail the top of the Atlas geep based on this pic.

[klrwhizkid]

Looking at the picture and my high resolution scan, the ties are concrete.

[Karl]

Keith,
I have a recollection that this picture appeared on the cover of All Aboard not long after the line was completed. It's a great pic. The train rated a wide vision road caboose, too.

[SAFN SAAP]

Concrete ties are horrible!!! We had them in the old Atlantic Coast Line yard just south of the James River Bridge and they were awful. Absolutely no give. You felt every little imperfection in the track and made the GP's rough handling. I hated working the switchbacks there. My butt doesn't forget the rough ride it received compliments of those concrete ties. I have to say that concrete ties were a dismal failed experiment. Give me regular ties any day!

Nice picture of the cutout. Not only does the picture give good perception on the GP7's for you powered boxcar guys, but the landscaping can be mimicked easily with foam and a cutting knife. Awesome stuff. Keep it coming.

[treefrog]

Attached is a photo that I purchased of a Frisco Lead Line Ore Train supposedly between Cuba and Cherryville, Mo.

Photographer unknown.

As usual for me, anything Frisco I own/purchase that can be scanned and posted has been unless I am aware of any copyright applied.

Beautiful! Elegant!

Ricky Mathews

[Brad Slone]

Keith,

I believe the photo was taken a few miles east of Cherryville from a county road bridge over the tracks. Of all things the county road is named hobo road. There is a photo of a quartet of GP-38-2 on the fallen flags website shot in 1975 that I think was taken very close to the same place. Amazing to think there was enough traffic to justify 8000 hp worth of motive power. Thanks for sharing the photo with the rest of us.

Brad

[Iantha_Branch]

I think Brad is right. Here is the link to the picture he is referring to:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/slsf/slsf426abp.jpg

[wpmoreland719]

Nice photo, Keith! I've never seen this one before. This has to be one of the first trains over the Lead Line. I believe that the GP38-2's were pressed into Lead Line service as soon as they made the roster, and the GP35's occasionally even showed up. The era of GP7's as the staple of power would have been short lived. In fact, I had doubts that they ever worked this line at all until you posted this.

Pat Moreland,
Union Mo.

[meteor910]

I took a look at the lead line track charts to see if I could pinpoint the location of the GP7's in Keith's pic. From Brad's estimate of the location, I'm guessing the train is westbound (towards Cuba) at MP AC111, east of Cherryville. The pic was taken at the forest service road overpass there. I'm guessing the cars are loaded, which makes sense for a westbound, but it's hard to tell since the lead ore is so heavy the cars were not filled to the top.

MP AC111, loaded, westbound. Anybody else have a better guess?

Ken

[meteor910]

I visited the area on Google Earth - see the attached pic.

The overpass is the forest service bridge at MP AC111 on the lead line. To the right (east) is the cut seen in the GP7's pic. The train was headed west, towards Lead Junction at MP AC101, and then to Cuba, MO to join the SLSF Eastern Division.

Ken