Richard Crabtree’s Rail Across Missouri Facebook group has a picture of two Frisco Mallets at Amory, MS. I would guess that the photograph was taken during the nineteen teens. In my mind, we have another piece of evidence that the Frisco quickly took these locomotives from the Eastern Division, and put them to work “elsewhere”. It is of interest, that both Mallets have auxiliary tank car tenders behind their way-too-small tenders. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10222847809558084&set=gm.298508188619936
I really like the look of these locomotives. Talk about all business. They got a lot of attention, I bet. The small tenders and fireboxes did lead to perhaps some concerns for crews.
For more than a couple reasons crews did not understand or conceive, or even want, one locomotive to do the job of 2 crews. Drawbar issues, whether self inflicted or otherwise can be debated. The operating unions, yes I will say union, and they had great power in the day, had immense influence.
Consider road foremen of engines, trainmasters and other front line managers were drafted and promoted from the "rank & file". Which is actually what made our railroads the envy of the world, in ton/mile considerations. Anyway, that is still one coo, powerful looking locomotive
My calculations indicate that the total heating surface was adequate when in compound mode. The first Frisco locomotive to have a combustion chamber. When in simple mode, the engines would quickly run out of steam, but then they were not designed to be in simple mode except, when starting. When looking at firing rates, a single fireman could not shovel enough coal to keep things hot. One was delivered with a stoker, and the remaining engines quickly received the Street Stokers, which solved that problem. My calculations also indicate that when working at full capacity, the engines could use all the water in the tender in about an hour, which means they could not pass a water plug with out stopping. The picture with the auxiliary tenders would tend to support that.
