I have received my copy of the TRRA´s magazine #69 which covers the joint operations of the Frisco/Katy Texas Special. At 152 pages including color it is much more than a "magazine". At last count there were less than 100 copies remaining. They won´t last forever so if you are interested in the Texas Special go to the web site directory and enter the St. Louis Terminal RR site. You can bring up the cover of the magazine and sample color page. It is more than worth the investment and should be in every Frisco library of books. Remember, when they´re gone that´s it! Don´t delay, order your copy today! Joe Toth The Trinity River Bottoms Boomer
Joe - We of the Terminal RR Association Historical & Technical Society thank you for your endorsement. Well said! Not only is the recent Texas Special issue worthwhile, but they all are (there have been about 70 different issues). They are an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the greater St Louis railroad scene and its history. Ken
You are welcome, Ken! At least this time I won´t have to eat crow! Did you notice...no politics! I am still giving a lot of thought about joining up with the TRRA! I have my 65 year old eyeballs on the Cotton Belt issue as I broke into railroading as a switchman in Dallas on the SSW in 1967 after my "great escape" from the US Army Transportation Corps. In 1962 my stepfather moved the family back to Tampa for the second time. I met my best friend for life ("adobted brother!") and we hung out at Tampa Union Station and Chester Holley´s train shop. I bought my first layout book from him. It was the "Six Atlas HO Layouts You Can Build" paperback. Three of the layouts really made my Dirty Harry day. The first was the Simplicity & Great Plains. A simple 4X6 sheet of plywood and flat as a pancake. I thought about a generic west Texas town named "Simplicity" and using an Athearn GP7 painted up for the QA&P. There was a shelf layout that was designed for switching which I dreamed of adding it to the last layout featured in the book, the Central Midland. The CM was, as mentioned in the book, intended as a layout loosely modeled after St. Louis Union Station! It was a large layout designed for Atlas Snap-Track (Reg.U.S.Pat.Off.) with 22 inch radius curves to accommodate passenger trains. As silly as it sounds today I wanted the Lionel HO "Texas Special" despite its many shortcomings. Having just sold off my Lionel 027 and converting to HO, I didn´t care about the prototype. I just wanted to "play" train in HO scale instead of 027! This is the lost joy of being young! All of the modern highly detailed models offered to model railroaders today has produced a whole new generation of rivet counters and contest quality craftsmanship and as great as it is, I still have the fond memories of the Athearn, Tyco and Varney products a generation ago! Varney offered a 40 foot double door steel boxcar in their plastic line of models lettered for the Frisco! You bet, this Texas chicken farm country boy saved up paper route money to have Chester order one for me! The Mantua T&P gondola, MDC "Roundhouse" Katy 50 foot double door steel boxcar, their new release, a big red and black Deramus Katy 40 foot boxcar and the Athearn yellow Katy stock car, all went to make up a real Texas freight train in my new HO world of trains. The "hammer" (like the Germans say) was my "Texas Zephyr" with Athearn´s silver Burlington F7 and streamlined passenger cars. The F7 was equipped with the Hi-F (High Tech Rubber Band?) drive and it would FLY around my brass Atlas snap-track mainline! Funny as it sounds now, I regreat that I no longer have these models. They were stolen out of my stepdad´s van when he was on the way to the PO to ship all my stuff to me from Tampa as I had flown from NY to Dallas after my discharge from the Army determined to hire out on a Texas railroad. Youth gone, paradise lost, kind of sad! Now I know why Andre wants to hang on to his beautiful Kansas City & Gulf HO models despite the excellent fine scale modeling he is now doing in S scale. Right on Andre! I have discovered thanks to Google, the S scale Kaw Valley RR. Am looking for more on this layout. Any sites I need to know about? My S scale layout will be freelanced after the railroad in Weldon Hill´s classic novel (Copyright 1961), "The Long Summer of George Adams". The K&W is located in Sumac (sic. Skedee), Oklahoma during the summer of 1952. It was really the ATSF´s secondary mainline from Kaw, Kansas, through Skedee, Cushing, rejoining the mainline at Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. The Kaw ran from Kansas to Texas. I am going to have to pay Andra royalties to use his color scheme on his KC&G but it will be well worth it. His GP7 scheme isn´t alot unlike the scheme that the Tennesee, Alabama & Gulf used though! Both were blue too! Sorry Andre, the cat may be out of the sack? Joe Toth
The Railroad Historical Museum, Inc. in Springfield, MO is in the process of sorting out the Frisco Employee Magazines that have not been digitized. This also includes the ALL ABOARD magazines and later different varities of the BN and later BN-SF magazines. We have over 50 editions that need digitized. We need your input: Have the Mar 1937, June 1937, Jan-Feb 1938 and August 1938 editions been digitized?
Frisco Employee Magazines Frisco employee magazines were published to serve the interests of active and retired Frisco employees. This collection consists of 185 complete magazines dating from 1902-1935. The magazines are in PDF format. The free Adobe® Reader® is required to view them. For more information about the collection, click here. Search Magazines Browse Magazines Click on an issue to view a listing of the PDFs for that issue. December 1902 January 1920 January 1930 December 1903 February 1920 February 1930 September 1904 March 1920 March 1930 May 1908 April 1920 April 1930 January 1909 November 1923 May 1930April 1909 September 1924 June 1930 August 1910 October 1924 July 1930 January 1911 November 1924 August 1930 March 1911 December 1924 September 1930 April 1911 January 1925 October 1930 July 1911 February 1925 November 1930 December 1911 March 1925 December 1930 January 1912 April 1925 January 1931 March 1913 May 1925 February 1931 June 1913 June 1925 March 1931 July 1913 July 1925 April 1931 August 1913 August 1925 May 1931 September 1913 September 1925 June 1931 October 1913 October 1925 July 1931 November 1913 November 1925 August 1931 February 1914 December 1925 September 1931 March 1914 January 1926 October 1931 April 1914 February 1926 May 1932 May 1914 March 1926 December 1932 June 1914 April 1926 February 1933 August 1914 May 1926 April 1933 September 1914 June 1926 May 1933 October 1914 July 1926 June 1933 November 1914 August 1926 July 1933 December 1914 September 1926 August 1933 May 1915 October 1926 September 1933 January 1916 November 1926 October 1933 February 1916 December 1926 November 1933 March 1916 January 1927 January 1934 May 1916 February 1927 February 1934 June 1916 March 1927 March 1934 July 1916 April 1927 April 1934 August 1916 May 1927 May 1934 October 1916 June 1927 June 1934 November 1916 July 1927 July 1934 December 1916 August 1927 August 1934 January 1917 September 1927 September 1934 February 1917 October 1927 October 1934 March 1917 November 1927 November 1934 April 1917 December 1927 December 1934 May 1917 January 1928 January 1935 June 1917 February 1928 February 1935 July 1917 March 1928 March 1935 September 1917 April 1928 April 1935 October 1917 May 1928 May 1935 November 1917 June 1928 July 1935 December 1917 July 1928 August 1935 January 1918 August 1928 September 1935 February 1918 September 1928 March 1918 October 1928 November 1918 November 1928 December 1918 December 1928 January 1919 January 1929 February 1919 February 1929 March 1919 March 1929 April 1919 April 1929 May 1919 May 1929 June 1919 June 1929 July 1929 August 1929 September 1929 October 1929 November 1929 December 1929
The Railroad Historical Museum, Inc. successfully completed the sorting of the Frisco Employee Magazines and some other limited items but due to several concerns, have shelved the project, at least temporarily. Items of concern include: 1) Financing the project, although it is very reasonable and doable. 2) Once digitized, there seems to be concerns of others capitalizing on this work. Not a concern, but of a very helpful and informative nature, the U.S. 1940 Census's will be made public on April 2,2012. Also, according to a local librarian, the Frisco Employee Cards have been curtailed prior to the 1930 census. Even if it is OK to publish them with the 1940 census reports, there probably will be a time delay for this to happen. It will be 2022 year before the 1950 census reports are made public, unless the laws are changed.
Since the thread was closed, I thought I would ask; What would the cost be to finish the project? We may have donors that would contribute to that specific project. Contact me via PM and I will post the response.
I still wish all of the Frisco First magazines would materialize somewhere on the net. They were excellent.
According to Peddling Joe, in Oct 2011 there were 1,628 pages that had not been digitized. A reputable firm will digitize them, etc, for $1.25 per page for a total of $2,035.
Not sure which series you are asking about. Morning Sun books has done Vol 1 and 2 of Frisco in Color. There was recently lots of discussion about the release of Vol 2 which included refs to a couple of bookstores that offer discounts. Have you checked Erail Hobbies there in Tulsa?
I have two copies of Frisco In Color Volume 1 for sale. If you are asking about other books please say so.
No Volume 3 that I know about (however, if you locate it, let me know and I will buy a copy). Volumes 1 and 2 are readily available from a number of sources, including Amazon, Ron's Books, the publisher himself, etc. Have fun and enjoy! GS
Greg.... by the way IF you decide to do VOL III, Tony Fey told me he has a pile of 70's era shots around the Paola area you can borrow. He ended up somehow with two copies of your UP book and I'm getting one. Buck
I am perfectly willing to undertake a third volume any time we can get the requisite number of slides together. I know there are still some out there from my previous contacts, but we would need a wider base of contributors. Altogether it takes about 240 images (and they can be digital if the scans are good) to assemble a book. GS
I just picked up my new copy of Frisco In Color #2. What a joy to see SO many great pics in color. Kudos to you, Greg, a great job! It is unfortunate, however, that pictures[ slides] like these will not be made again. When Kodachrome and Ektachrome became extinct, so did the best quality of preserving images. I know I am slighted in that direction, because of my father, but I have yet to see digital "as good" as Eastman film. Thanks again for a great book!! Dan
While we're talking dining cars, has anyone seen this book: https://www.whiteriverproductions.com/shopexd.asp?id=181 Does it cover the rolling stock or is it just food, menus and tableware? Tom
Re: Frisco Menus Wow. I've not seen that one. It doesn't say how many pages, etc. That would be important information.
Re: Frisco Menus I'd like a more thorough description myself. I hope it has some dining CAR information, like builders and in-service photos and specs. If it's only about menus or dining car china and silverware, I couldn't care less. I know some people are gaga over dining car china, but I'd have to pass on a $59 book just on tableware and recipies (Like some dining car books), Frisco or not. TG
