With the “Salute to Frisco Steam” book nearly on the shelves, I went back over all the research involved. I had uncovered an old wives’ tale about there originally being 26 of the 4500s. I never believed it, even after Dad mentioned it once a long time ago. So I was happily cruising through details of each class and uncovered a photo of the 4525! A lot more digging finally led me to what that was all about. When the last eleven 4500s were delivered during the war, they were put into immediate service. A little over a week after 4525, Frisco’s last new steam engine was delivered she was breaking in on a local freight and was in the siding between Allenton and Pacific for a meet. The engine crew was sitting off in the shade waiting when the boiler developed a massive longitudinal crack that opened and spread of three courses. It didn’t outright explode rapidly but After all the steam, water and dust settled, the crew was fine, everything was still o the rails and the engine looked like a burst open soda pop can. At that time, Baldwin was over capacity as was West Springfield shops and the carcass was unceremoniously scrapped along with Baldwin footing the bill due to their defect. Had it not been for Robert J. Foster and his photo of her at Lindenwood, who knows how long this would have just been a rumor. This would have been included in my book, but I limited to action and train photos.
That is a sad story! It is a relief to know the crew was fine and all stayed on the tracks. Was there any further investigation of root-cause? I imagine during the War, there was little time for that.
This folklore and the tale of the 2-6-6-2 #2000 belong in the book Frisco Folks. It's about as believable as some of the stories there; really fun. Ken McElreath
