From Richard Crabtree on Frisco Rails Across Missouri. This is a very rare photograph - if not for the history of the steam locomotive, but for the station behind it. Every now and then I come across a real gem, and this one of them. First the locomotive. Built as a 4-4-0 by Cooke in 1893. Originally lettered No. 10 for the Kansas City, Osceola and Southern (KCO&S) Railroad, aka "The Blair Line". It was Number KCO&S 44 when the Frisco purchased the The Blair Line in 1900. In 1903 it was renumbered SLSF 94. It was assigned trains No 120 and No 123 on the Northern Division between Springfield, MO and Olathe, KS. By 1927 it had racked up 500,000 miles of service. It was finally retired in 1934. Second the passenger station. I have only 2 photographs in my collection of the original Frisco passenger depot at East Commercial Street and North Benton Avenue. It was built shortly after the Frisco came to Springfield in 1870. In the 1890s it underwent a major expansion. They razed this passenger station after the Frisco took over the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis (KCFS&M), shifting passenger service to West Mill Street and North Main Avenue. The photograph had to be taken in 1900-1902 timeframe prior to her being renumbered in 1903 to SLSF 94. We are on the southern track closer to North Benton Avenue that was not in the 1896 Sanborn map. But it was in the 1902 Sanborn map. We are looking Northeast. See 1902 Sanborn map in comments. Harry Morgan photograph. Click here for current view. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.2299365,-93.2872708,3a,75y,345.73h,89.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6y2A4y02ho4w84_y4ktuRg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6y2A4y02ho4w84_y4ktuRg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D258.8787%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
What a wonderful picture. Absolutely superb. There is a spotting feature in this photograph that causes me to think this is at least a wee bit earlier than estimated: The link n' pin coupling. That was mandated by law to be gone by the end of 1899 on standard gauge that performed interchange. This is reinforced by the length of the pilot, and the fact that the engine is still using a long pilot bar. The above causes me to think that this is 1899 at the very latest. Admittedly this is a small point, and is basically a "for what it is worth" opinion, but such is significant to historians. Ah, the fun of dating a photograph if the date is not conclusively noted by the original photographer! Andre
Andre, That is factually correct and I had not scrutinized the post, just captured what was there. The original author claims to be a Frisco Historian, but occasionally his posts run into a factual divide. Or would that be chasm?
Still have to reiterate just how grand is that photograph. Photographs of earlier Frisco, and Frisco ancestors are hard to come by. Addendum: My comment about the pilot and the long pilot bar. As a general rule, long pilots like that began to be phased out with the advent of improved front coupler link pockets. For illustration, below is a picture of Colorado Midland (CM) Railroad's first class of 2-8-0s, in this case CM 8, built in 1886. With the development of the cast coupler link pockets, pilots became shorter, and the long pilot bars went with it. I have also seen pictures of earlier engines being retrofitted with the newer coupler pockets and shorter pilots. Now, the long pilot and bar seen on the 4-4-0 SLSF 44 pictured above could be an oddity in that it survived intact all the way to 1899, but that was not the norm on larger systems like the Frisco was becoming. Again, all this is simply FWIW. Andre
Yes, SLSF 44 is a 4-4-0. If you are in reference to the CM engine, I posted that to illustrate why the long pilot and long pilot bar on SLSF 44 is quite archaic if indeed the photograph of the 44 in 1899. Does that help clear your corn-fusion? Andre
Corn fused by the thread title. Maybe after a few shots I would confuse a Consolidation with an American but I doubt it. Both very cool photographs!
