Here are shots from negatives in my collection of the classy little 4-4-0s that West Springfield modernized back in the '20s into some snappy little engines that lasted until the end of steam on the Frisco. Nice work Springfield!
Awesome stuff, as always, Don...thanks for sharing. The photo of 182 in Pittsburg is especially delicious with the converted troop sleeper baggage car and MDT reefer in the background. Looks like it may be a business car on the rear?
182 sure looks like its on the Joplin plug (tr121/124) at Ft Scott, KS. The MDT reefer is in front of the frieght house, and the location of the water crane and the platforms sure look like "Great Scott".
It may well be Ft. Scott Karl, the negative envelope said Pittsburg, but now that I think about it, it does look like Ft. Scott. The car on the hind end is business car No. 12.
There is one of these on E-bay right now and it is olive green. Were these units painted green? Steve
And in case you wanted to see it. http://cgi.ebay.com/HO-HALLMARK-BRA...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50 Sorry about that. Steve
Karl - How about that article on page 17 about how the "Airplane Will Not Supersede Railroad". Got that right! Interesting that the talk of the "four legs of the transportation system", with the airplane being a possible fifth, doesn't include the vision of a massive system of paved interstate and local highways over which autos and trucks will severly impact the railroads, the transit lines, and the waterways. Reminds me of a book I just finished pertaining to my other hobby passion - naval history. The all-knowing Admirals of the US Navy in the late 1920's and the early 1930's viewed the aircraft carrier as being only useful as a scouting arm for the navy's big gun battleships. Again, got that right! Ken
Ken, Through out the issues of the digital FEM's, there's a certain "whistl'n' past the graveyard" mentality with regard to trucks, the automobile, and airplane. We always seem to be "using the technology and strategy from the last war to fight the next one". ...but ain't the 187 gorgeous. Just doing a little whistl'n' of my own. keb
I have posted below a scan of a photo postcard featuring #187 that was given to me by my great-grandfather. It was sent to his mother by his brother, Ivan.
That's a wonderful photograph! It really makes clear what a complete job of rebuilding/modernizing was done by West Springfield on those locomotives. I'm particularly intrigued, though, by the second car in the train which gives the appearance, based on the multitude of windows, of being a coach modified with an RPO apartment. Anyone care to speculate on that? Tom? Anyone? Gordon
Keith, thanks for sharing...do you know the location of the photo? I'm presuming River Division... Best Regards,
Gordon--I don't have any information or pictures on the "wood" era of Frisco passenger cars--sorry. I used to see scratch building projects and Ambroid kits in the older (back issues of) model magazines of cars like that, mostly New England prototypes. That car doesn't even look like the wooden cars that the Frisco plated over with steel. Tom
That photo postcard is definitely on the River Division. I will check the postcard to ascertain location. Follow-up: Postmark is too smudged to read and Ivan didn't indicate where it was in his note to his mother on the back.
Regarding the shot of the 182 at Pittsburg or Ft. Scott, I can say definitely that is is Ft. Scott. I've stood on that platform a hundred times watching trains 117 and 121. 121 has the Firefly coach that 117 has just brought down from KC [and probably the business car too], so this means that 117, the Firefly, has just departed for Oklahoma and 121 is about to follow for Joplin. The coach, returning the same day on 124, will be added to 118, the northbound Firefly, late in the afternoon. Fred Clem
Fred - Thanks very much for the information; to me, information like this on how thinsg operated is very valuable. Best Regards,
From Don's orginal post back in 2006 with all the great photos, I am going to guess that they were painted black torwards the end of their running days. What do the experts on here think? Steve
I think they were painted black very shortly after being put in service in the rebuilt state. When first finished, they were painted green.
