Frisco Transportation Company

Here is what I have in the way of FTC trailers. The first shot although poor was about as good as I could do. It was a dreary day but It took some shots anyway expecting to come back and get some better ones later. However the trailer disappeared shortly thereafter. These where taken in the late 90's at a closed truck garage just west of St Clair. The third and four shot where taken long about 2005 between Rolla and Doolittle. Even though the signs where in poor condition I was surprised that such an old trailer was still around.

Brad

 

i think Joe Colias' book Frisco Power has some FTC shots...I to am interested as I'm planning to start a layout this fall and winter and want to have some FTC trucks at the Amory, ms freighthouse...

 

Photo is the back cover of the Aug 1972 intermodal issue of allaboard. To me this is one of the more interesting issues that I have seen. The front cover (also color) is a Frisco Vert-A-Pac being loaded with Chevrolet Vegas.

"Frisco Transportation Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the railroad, has been operating as a common motor carrier truck line since 1937. Today the company operates 239 pieces of city and road equipment... Over the last three years the company has modernized its fleet including the accuisition in May of 15 new twin-screw 290 h.p. road tractors at a cost of $270,000 (see back cover)..."

 

I doubt today that you could buy two of the tractors for that money.
What have the politicians done to us?

BTW ... Neat photo ... Thanks for posting

 

hi frisco folks...speaking of decals, I am attempting to build a model of ex-Frisco #76 and 77...there ain't no Mississippian decals that i have found...soo, I am experimenting with making some on my computer; I was needing "MISSISSIPPIAN RY" lettering on the cab sides, so i took some clear return address labels, typed in the text as clear, and made the background color black, using the smallest arial font I could get; I then painted the area where the "decal" would be placed white. while the paint dried I sprayed a clear acrylic on the homemade decal to make it colorsafe, cut it to fit and placed it over the white painted area. It doesen't look half bad considering; This was a trial run as I haven't completed the engine mods yet, or paint...when I get it done, I'll try to post a photo

 

Attached are scans of photo copies of FTC equipment featured in annual reports and issues of all aboard, so the quality is not good but the subject matter is interesting. The two images on the left are from the inside back cover of the 1944 annual report. Sorry about the distortion on the tractor-trailer picture but this was copied from a bound volume. Next is from the January 1956 issue of All Aboard which advocated a piece of legislation before Congress at the time. Note that the trailer is refrigerated. On the right is a photo-caption from the January 1969 issue of all aboard boasting about new equipment.

Rich

 

Nice posting - Rich.
He who wrote the article on pic #4 needs additional schooling.

First they wrote that Frisco purchased 51 new tractors and trailers - then they go and say that one of the 30 trailers is shown as being 13 feet.
Gross bad editing.

P.S. Goes right along with this post. LOL

 

Perhaps, assuming they had an editor, it means that 30 of the 51 were 13' tall? That might have been significant at the time, very modern. And hazardous around older RR underpasses.

 

Just a comment on the general issue of trailer heights for the benefit of some that may not have worked around them much. In the 1970's and 1980's Sears, like many companies, had their own fleet of tractor/trailer trucks roaming the countryside. You may remember seeing some of them, the older ones were often painted a "funky" green color, usually with a large SEARS, ROEBUCK AND COMPANY on the trailer side.

At the time I was working at the Whirlpool warehouse at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Many of the trailers we received from Sears were "low" (less than 13' 6" height) which greatly restricted what would fit in them. I can remember heights as low as 12' clearance. The trailers seemed oddly out of date even though sometimes they were relatively new. At the time I learned that most of these trailers were actually intended for captive use in various big cities, in this case often Chicago. In the older parts of some cities the bridges and other overhead structures had been built with much lower height clearances than the current 13' 6" standard. Special trailers were needed for overhead clearance purposes. These trailers had "strayed" much like special railroad equipment often did in the days before computers.

My point here is that if the FTC trailers were purchased in more than one height, it may have been with specific routes in mind. The lower trailers, while not as useful in situations where there was plenty of overhead clearance, may have been required in certain urban areas.

Another trap for the unwary is the distinction between Frisco "piggyback" trailers and the trailers used by FTC. Not necessarily the same thing at all.

John

 

At the Diesel Shop we had a old tractor and a flatbed trailer to move diesel wheels to the Wheel Shop.

 

Thanks for the photos of the diesel shop tractor/trailer.

There are some other photos of that tractor available on the web as well. The best of these is on Mike Condren's website:

http://www.condrenrails.com/Frisco Catalog/MOW-Trucks.htm

I've been looking into building a model of this tractor/trailer set in n-scale. Showcase Miniatures makes a similar cab, though it will need to be kitbashed into a proper tractor.

Paul

 

re: models of Frisco trucks

For those interested in tractor models of the FTC, Sylvan Models has the 50's GMC highboy and the later White 4000. their web site is www.isp.ca/Sylvan

Larry F

 

Found a HO Frisco Transportation Company trailer on Ebay this morning. It is item number 280448195362, under "N Scale Frisco, Toys & Hobbies". There are two other trailers in same lot. Bid ends Jan 12 at 19:04:53 PST. Starting bid is $11.95 with $5.05 shipping. So far no bids have been posted. Manufacturer is not listed. If a Frisco.org member wins the lot please update this thread with any info about the Frisco trailer and if it is available in N scale. Photo is from Ebay listing.

Joe

 

Here's another example of a Frisco Transportation Company highway tractor. This one is cropped from a photo of a Transportation Day parade float which was taken on May 7, 1957 at Tulsa, OK. The photo appeared in the June 1957 All Aboard. John

 

The more I look at this photo, the more I think that the color is red that has faded to orange. Does anyone remember or have a photo of these vans when new? I am thinking that originally the background was red. Thanks.