That ain't so bad- the worst-looking Frisco F-unit I've ever seen was one with no cigar-band stroping whatsoever. I saw a pic of this diesel at an FMIG convention in Eureka Springs in 1987.
Amen to that! Never been a bad looking Frisco diesel. Although ..... those beautiful Frisco E7 and E8 red & gold "Racehorse" (or "Redbirds", whatever you want to call them) done up in the red/orange & white livery came very close to the definition of just plain bad ugly. Ken
For me, it wasn't so much the R/W paint on the E units that was the problem. It was the awkwardly placed "FRISCO" lettering on the side that screamed that the scheme on these units was a sad afterthought. It just didn't work, and it was brutally obvious.
According to the book Frisco Diesel Power, by Louis A. Marre and John Baskin Harper, Interurban Press, 1984, SLSF 18 was sold to Precision National Corporation (PNC) on 8/14/1974. As a result, the photograph in Tulsa's Cherokee Yard was most likely before this date in 1974. An interesting note about SLSF 18 (former 5018) is that is was the Frisco's first F7A, shipped 3/1949 and received 3/8/1949. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Number 18 in black? Did you know that unit 18 was in all black for a time? Amazing and true. I met Jim Christenberry (sp?) back in the 1990s and we went through his slides in my basement one night for hours and hours. He was a locomotive engineer on the Central Division and had taken some great slides over the years. One 35mm slide in particular drew my attention. It was F unit number 18 in all black. The only yellow was the Frisco letters. No yellow stripes, no cigar band, no sir. Jim had a story that went like this . . . In the early 70s, two sets of F unit power were sitting on the same track at Ft. Smith with their engineers in the cabs. The man on the ground radioed, "Bring 'em back John." Unfortunately, both engineers were named John and they backed their power into each other. The result was some damage to unit 18's nose. Undaunted the Ft. Smith shop forces straightened out the nose and shot it in all black. Jim did not know why they did not reapply the cigar band so 18 ran around the system in black for at least a short time. I ran across a slide of 18 in all black a few years ago and I can't remember if it came from John Sanders, Charlie Dischinger or someone else. It clearly shows 18's nose in all black. Hard to believe but back then photos didn't lie (as much). So if you have an F7 shell wanting an EASY paint job and you are running in the 70-74 timeframe, you may want to put an all black 18 on your layout. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
OK ..All Right ... News to my ears/eyes. I have a stripped F7A (black) sitting on the shelf in front of me. Maybe I will just number it 18.
My only reason for dating this shot of #18 as "ca. 1976" is that was about the time I was most actively taking pix. It could have been anywhere between 1974 and 1979. Hence "about 1976." Glenn in Tulsa
I saw a slide of the 18, all in black, at an FMIG meeting in Eureka Springs in 1987- Charlie Dischinger was showing that slide. I'm glad someone else saw it- I don't feel like I've been telling tales out of school As for Jim Christenberry, I haven't seen or heard from him in a long time. He was the guy that gave me my first cab ride, on GP15-1 100 on the Ft. Smith North Switcher. Last I heard, he was working for KCS. Heckuva nice guy. Man, I miss the old Ft. Smith crowd............
Hi: Just an update: Jim Christenberry is one of my longest time friends, and one of my best friends. (I put Jim and Dave MacDonald on the same strata.) Jim and I met in '74 or '75. I still talk to him weekly via the phone. Jim was a ground crewman (worked as Brakeman, Conductor, Foreman, etc) for the Frisco from about late '71 or '72 through their morph into the BN, and then a short time following. In the early 80's Jim hired out as a Conductor for the KCS out of Heavener and became a Certified Engineer for the KCS in early 90's. He is retired now on account of a disability (back) following a train/truck collision. He still misses railroading (as it was, not as it is). I'm trying to talk him into letting me get permission from the A&M to take him with me in the cab during one of the upcoming Winter Passenger Runs I'll be covering. If so, I intend to give Jim a good ol' dose of what I call "retro-railroading", A&M style. Trust me, no other railroad does "retro-railroading" like the A&M!
You and I are on the same page of the hymnal there. Jim and Dave are two of the good guys- IIRC, he did some pretty decent Frisco modeling back in the day. I'd sure like to contact him again some time, now that I'm kinda in the neighborhood (Muskogee is only an our out of Ft. Smith, and with a graddaughter down in Huntington, I make as many trips to AR to spoil the kid)
Andre, Tell Jim, I would like to see his slides again sometime. Glad someone in the Frisco nation knows him. He is a good guy.
Re: F7A 18 in Black You guys are always comin up with the pictures I needed 7 months ago Anyways heres my SLSF 18. Tom
Thanks Glenn When you get that shell be careful taking the cardboard strip off I put inside the shell and wrapped around the bottom of the ends. Tried to protect those miserably delicate MU hoses, you will see what I'm talking about. Happy New Year everyone! Tom
The O/W one is a F9B #147, I finished last evening. The shell went on the chassis your shell came off of
