The Sunnyland, Trains No 807 And No 808, St. Louis, MO To Memphis, TN - On The River Division

Wonderful pictures.

Thanks for posting them.

Chris,

The bottom picture is labeled as being in Crystal City, MO, 1965.

Andre

 

Wonderful photos. In the second one, you can see in the foreground the Mopac crossing to access the PP&G plant , along with the Frisco tracks to the same.

The first photo is at a different location entirely, not around Crystal City.

Ken McElreath

 

The photograph at Crystal City appeared in Burlington Northern and its Heritage, by Steve Glischinski, Andover Junction Publications, 1992.

The photograph is credited to the late Jim Boyd.

GS

 

Terrific photographs.

Was E7A (EA7) SLSF 2002 assigned to the Sunnyland?

That looks like a different E-unit in the second photograph.

 

I have seen the FP7As with shorter passenger trains, too.

I wonder if they ever filled in?

I will have to look.

 

There is something in the background to the right that looks like railroad roadbed.

If so, that would be the Rolla Subdivision with Old Orchard to the left. The photograph does not show the gasometers of "Monument Valley", but I believe they are just out of the scene to the right.

Could the top photograph be looking due west to maybe west southwest in Shrewsbury, MO?

The area in the foreground to the left of the tracks would now be the Metrolink Shrewsbury Station parking lot and the Lansdowne Avenue bridge is about 1/8 mile to the south southeast.

 

The FP7As were used often on the short trains of the Monett, MO to Fort Smith, AR "Meteorite". Its cessation of service was September 1965.

Prior to the 1957 cessation of service, they went further south of Fort Smith on the Arthur Subdivision.

Wishful thinking, what sight it would have been to ride the passenger train over either subdivision. For me, seeing as I have had a lot of experience on the Ozark line, it would have been a special treat to have seen, or run, passenger trains over Winding Stair south of Ft. Smith, AR in the Ouachita mountains of Oklahoma. There is some beautiful country in the Ouachitas and Ozarks.

Still kicking my butt for not capitalizing on Mac McAdam's numerous attempts to get me to go with him from Fort Smith, AR to Hugo, OK.

What was I thinking?

I could have at been on board to Talihina, OK. Oh well.

Andre

 

If someone wished to model passenger trains, this version of the Sunnyland is an excellent pike-sized passenger train.

I could not find FP7As on the Sunnyland, but there several of them leading the "Meteorite."

Mike Condren has several pictures, too. Similar consist with one or two baggage cars, combine, but a lightweight coach.

 

FP7A SLSF 5040 was photographed on train No 518, the Black Gold.

it was a heavyweight coach-and-sleeper job that ran between Tulsa, OK and Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. A photograph of this train appears on page 46 of Frisco Southwest, by McCall and Schultz, a book I picked up at a hobby shop in Chicago, IL many years ago.

However, the caption indicates that the photograph dates from 1967, which is obviously not correct. It should be 1957, as we all know what Frisco passenger service looked like in 1967.

GS

 

FP7As were used on the passenger train into Wichita, KS on occasion along with GP7s and E7A (EA7) or E8A units at other times.

 

Beautiful photographs, Keith, but I am confused.

I thought the "Sunnyland" was a Kansas City train.

What am I missing?

 

The "main stem" of the Sunnyland was indeed a Kansas City to Memphis to Birmingham train, a second-banana operation running opposite the Kansas City Florida Special.

However, prior to the great bloodletting of 1965, there was also a St. Louis to Memphis connection of the Sunnyland, which as the photographs above show, was basically a mail and express job.

In even earlier years there was a second train on the route, an overnighter called the Memphian.

GS

 

The Sunnyland made its inaugural run on October 7, 1925 and provided through Pullman service between Kansas City to St. Petersburg, FL and Kansas City to Tampa, FL.

The train also handled a Kansas City to New Orleans, LA sleeper via Memphis, TN and then the Illinois Central (IC). Through chair cars were handled between Kansas City, MO and Atlanta, GA and a Frisco diner operated between Kansas City and Birmingham, AL.

During the following years, the Frisco and connecting roads made numerous changes to the trains’ schedule, equipment, and destinations.

On April 21, 1940 the Sunnyland was restructured. Operation between Kansas City and Springfield, MO was discontinued and replaced with locals No 103 and No 104, which operated between Springfield and Ft Scott, KS. At Ft Scott, train No 103 connected with train No 111 and train No 104 connected with No 118.

The Springfield-Memphis segment of the Sunnyland and the Memphis-Birmingham segment of the Sunnyland were now essentially separate trains due to lengthy layovers in Memphis.

In its 1955 Annual Report, the Frisco management used the words “official policy to discontinue unprofitable passenger trains” for the first time ever. After decades of investing in and operating unprofitable passenger trains, railroad management had thrown-in the towel.

On September 30, 1956 the Frisco discontinued trains No 101 and No 102, the Springfield-Memphis passenger local, and trains No 103 and No 104, the Springfield-Ft Scott passenger local.

On October 1, 1956, the Sunnyland, trains No 107 and No 108, returned to Kansas City. The “new Sunnyland” was a mere shadow of its former self. It was the local train, making every stop between KC and Birmingham.

Between KC and Springfield the train carried 3-4 baggage cars, more as traffic demands required, a baggage-RPO, 2 chair chairs, and chair buffet on the rear end.