Is there someone, who can give some detailed roster information about FA-1 SLSF 5215? How long did this engine remain in service, has it been renumbered or repainted? Thanks for help. Joerg
According to Frisco Diesel Power by Louis A. Marre and John Baskin Harper, Alco FA-1 SLSF 5215 was shipped to the Frisco on December 30, 1948 and was received on January 6, 1949. The unit was repowered with an EMD 16-567-C diesel engine on February 14, 1956. It was traded in to GE in February, 1966. None of the FA-1 units were ever renumbered, though some FB-1 units survived long enough to participate in the 1968 renumbering. A few FA-1 and FB-1 units did receive the "austerity" black and yellow paint scheme. No FA-1 or FB-1 units were repainted into the Mandarin orange and white scheme.
Thanks for your help. Are you sure with 1966 as the date of being traded in? I found a photo of FA-1 SLSF 5215 in freight service for Frisco, which is dated with 1967. Joerg
I personally cannot verify the accuracy of the information in Frisco Diesel Power. Though the book has detailed information on every class of diesel the SLSF owned, I have found through interaction on this board, that at least on one occasion, a date in the book was suspect. Where did you find your information? If it was on the internet, could you post a link? Ultimately, one has to gather information from as many sources as possible, weigh the trustworthyness of these sources, and make a decision for themselves as to its accuracy.
I found this information on the following. http://www.locophotos.com/Search.ph...earchTop=5215&SearchBottom=5215&Search=Search Joerg
Possible that it is 1967. Marre in Frisco In Color says the last five FA-1s lasted until 2/1967 and the last five FB-1s lasted until 9/1969. This shot of FA-1 SLSF 5215 looks like it is in pretty good shape for that late. I could be mistaken, but it looks more like a 1962 or 1963 photograph? What do you think Pensive? Tom
Here is the rear locomotive unit of train No 731 arriving at Fort Smith, AR. http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=44874 If you look at the GP7s you can see that they are facing backwards along with the F7A 5021. In the photograph of FA-1 SLSF 5215, one also sees 2 GP7 units facing backwards. So this must be a "F unit sandwich", either 2 or 3 Geeps in between the cab units at either end. Let us analyze the photograph without prejudice to what we might think would be the date. The first thing we look for is evidence of repowering, and we find it with the 2 exhaust sacks, equipped with spark arrestors. This image must be after the repowering date of February 14, 1956. Interestingly, neither the Alco nor the EMD builder's plates are present. The presence of spark arrestor's takes us into the mid 1960s as indicated by the caption on page 85 of Marre/Harper's Frisco Diesel Power (FDP). "Mandated by Legislation, spark arresters blossomed on the roofs of all Frisco F types in the mid-sixties". The photo shows EMD F-unit 5021, the same locomotive as the trailing unit in our lash up, although it is in the lead in the photograph at Rolla MO on October 7. 1965. Looking through my resources, I cannot find any F units that have spark arrestors fitted in 1963 or before, some do and some do not in 1964, and by 1965 all of them had it. So I would say that photograph is dated 1964 or later by evaluating that feature. Tom is right in that the unit appears to be in good shape. I speculate that it was repainted in the full black and yellow scheme a year or two before the photograph was taken, and before the "austerity" scheme was adopted. The oldest photo that I can find with the simplified black scheme featured is on page 69 of Frisco In Color (FIC) dated October, 1964. So SLSF 5215 must have been repainted some time before then. So I would estimate that the photograph was taken in 1964, 1965, or 1966 and it is certainly possible that it could have been taken in 1967. In defense of Marre/Harper's FDP they researched the original records belonging to the Frisco, though they make clear, in many cases the records were incomplete and had to resort to other sources to fill in the missing information. We're not likely to get a more thoroughly researched resource on the subject of the Frisco's diesels. The book turns up on e-bay every once-in-a-while and is still reasonably priced.
Looks like you covered all the bases Pensive. The reason I thought it might be earlier than 1967 was that the entire lash up was more or less in the original paint scheme. By 1967 the "cigar band" and Mandarin orange and white paint jobs were all over the system. The internet book dealers "Alibris" and "Abe Books" both have copies of Frisco Diesel Power. "Abe" has a copy for $35. Tom
Howdy folks, I am just about finished installing sound decoders in a brace of FA-1 and FB-1s and plan to start detailing and painting the shell soon. In deciding how to number the units, I consulted Louis A Marre's Frisco Diesel Power table of received dates. It would seem logical that a "set" would have been assembled based on the received date FA-1s SLSF 5214 and SLSF 5215 were received on the same date 1/6/1949. Following Frisco's numbering scheme, I would have thought the FB-1 unit would have been SLSF 5314 or SLSF 5315 for this set. However, the table says that the FB-1 unit received on the 1/6/1949 date were numbers SLSF 5306 and SLSF 5307. The question I would like to have answered is, how did the Frisco assemble the road sets, by delivery date, randomly, or by number? Happy rails, Mike
Mike, I would suggest that new diesel units were received usually, but not always, in numerical order. The Alco FA-1/FB-1 sets were ordered as A-B-A units. There were twice as many FA-1s as FB-1s. Thus, it makes sense that FB-1 SLSF 5306 and FB-1 SLSF 5307 showed up along with FA-1 SLSF 5214 and FA-1 SLSF 5215. Ken
Mike, Which FA-1/FB-1 model are you working with? Are you planning to do them "as delivered", or later in their black and yellow life? The Proto 2000 HO FA-1/FB-1 model is in "as-delivered" black and yellow paint, but with yellow handrails and no big unit number on the sides. Shortly after entering service, the Frisco painted the handrails black, and added unit numbers to the sides below the cab side windows on the FA-1s, and just ahead of the center door on the FB-1s. Much later on, of course, they messed them up by going to the "austerity" black and yellow scheme. Ken
Howdy Ken, Thanks for the valuable information. I haven't decided on numbers and exact period yet. I need to though and pretty quick. I am building the set to run the freights between Fort Worth and Saint Louis at the Texas Western. They will be assigned permanently to the train. We model in the 1945-1959 period, so I have a lot of leeway to pick the year. I wanted to do the set before repowering. I have three Alco Sountraxx units, and have the SLSF FA-1 5215 and FB-1 5315 set, plus another FA-1 SLSF 5215 to complete the group. I will renumber the second FA-1 SLSF 5215 and was trying to match numbers for the earlier part of its career. I plan to weather it well, tone down the yellow, black the hand rails, add any grabs needed, add a Leslie, fade the antiglare green, etc. I have another set I thought I would do with 16-567-C engines, spark arrestors, etc. later on. A final note is that I have not explored the old Microscale decal set to see how difficult it will be to change the number boards. I would like to add the road numbers to the sides. I have one decoder and speaker left to install, then I will begin work on the shells. This diesel stuff is new to me. Best, Mike
Mike: If you like all the "foof" (eyebrow grabs, ladder grabs, etc) then you'll need to lean toward the latter end of your target era. IF you want to stay "accurate", then you can mark-off spark arrestors on the FAm's: The spark arrestors didn't start appearing until about '64. Have fun no matter which approach you take. Andre Ming
Mike, The Microscale #87-85 Frisco decal set would be fine for changing your FA-1 and FB-1 numbers. In particular use an older set. It has better number board decals. The shade of yellow is "close enough" for the P2K units for the addition of the side numbers. The 87-85 decal set is my favorite all-time decal set. No telling how many of them I have bought through the years! My FA-1 SLSF 5200, FB-1 SLSF 5300, FA-1 SLSF 5215 set used these decals and is pictured in my frisco.org album. If you want to on your earlier set, consider changing out FA-1 SLSF 5215 to the water cooled turbo exhaust just to make it a little different. Unit FA-1 5215 lived for a while with the water turbo courtesy of Alco but was repowered by EMD in 1956. The part is included with each P2K model so you have an option which to use. Ken
I added a sound decoder in my Alco FA-1. What was the factory issued horn for this model so I have the correct horn sound for this model? John
The expensive Leslie 5-chime horns were Frisco's standard back then. There is a Youtube recording that is a must-play. The chord is A7 inverted around the C#: C#, E, G, A, C#.
John, In the Tsunami Alco 244 decoders, set CV115 to 7. That is the Leslie S5T which is the best choice.
I am working on updating and modifying an ABBA set of Proto FA-1 and FB-1 locos I snagged off e-bay some time ago. I am already working on the EMD swap details for the FA-1s, and I am expecting the FB-1s to have standard Alco details. I did not see anything in the archive about it and the diesel shop does not note that the FB-1 numbers I have were EMD swapped. I will be doing both FA-1s up with spark arrestors, as it seems most EMD prime movers got them eventually. But in the Archive, I have noticed the FA-1s switch between one headlight and two headlights, presumably with a mars in the lower light. What is up with that? Both numbers I have, FA-1 SLSF 5200 and FA-1 SLSF 5215, only appear in the Archive with single headlights, and are not on RRPictureArchive. Did some units get second headlights during their EMD conversions, or was it all of them?
