My father and grandfather always referred to the 2-10-0 1613-Class locomotives as Bolshevik’s. This brief article is an interesting item, which provides a brief look at the Frisco 1600s during their last summer on the Frisco. There a several factual errors in the piece, but it does provide some interesting insight to the early days of the engines. First error - 2-10-0 SLSF 1621 was retired after a head-on collision and ensuing explosion of dynamite, which was carried in the consist of the train. The collision occurred between trains No 135 and No 136 at Wallerville, MS, MP-C568.0, on June 17, 1921. It would seem that the process to replace the first 2-10-0 SLSF 1621 (1st) took several years to complete. During 1927, the number of Bolshevks on the Annual Report roster rose from 19 to 20, and by inference we can assume that the addition came from the Ft. Smith, and Rock Island (FSS&RI). The Bolsheviks were purchased under two separate equipment purchase contracts with the U.S. War Department and not the USRA. The first ten arrived during 1919, and the second ten arrived during 1920. Both contracts were identical. Ten locomotives for $250,000; $25,000 down with 9 equal installment payments paid annually with an interest rate of 6% per annum on deferred payments.
There are always factual errors when articles about railroads appear in newspapers. It is a business that is little understood beyond the obvious. I remember a reference to Robert Kennedy's funeral riding on "iron rails". Anybody have any idea what date this appeared? GS
In this case, the employees did not make the best source for some of the historical information either. It has been my experience that while employees are usually very good for operational information, for historical details, they are sometimes lacking. With regard to the news media, they are ignorant with regard to most anything that they cover, and they lack the background and understanding to ask even basic questions. I have been in the oil and gas business since 1977, and members of the news media are out of their depth when covering the technical aspects of my industry. Article is dated July 15, 1951, Springfield Daily News.
A close friend of mine, now deceased had a saying about "old timers". "They have perfect recall of stuff that never happened". I miss him.
