Proposed "Meet & Greet"(DCC, Frisco, et. al.)

Craig -

I'm very supportive of your idea to have a frisco.org/FMIG meeting in St Louis. I would look forward to meeting our fellow frisco.org members, and the sharing and bonding that will occur - that was one of the great features of the old FMIG meetings of long ago.

I hosted the 1981 (I think that was the year???) FMIG meeting here in St Louis. It was at a local Holiday Inn (now torn down!). We met up on Friday night for pictures, slides and tales sharing, met at the hotel Saturday morning for presentations and discussions until mid-afternoon, then had a tour of the diesel shop at Lindenwood Yard. Then back to the hotel for a dinner and a featured speaker with movies (Joe Collias). Sunday, we met at the National Museum of Transport, where I witnessed tears in Lee Buffington's eyes when he heard Arthur Johnson (both deceased, alas, they are missed greatly) ring SLSF 1522's bell. That was before 1522 was restored. Sunday afternoon, everybody said their goodbyes and the meeting ended.

As Doug noted, the meeting was a great success. We had 40 people attend, and were blessed with fine weather Friday and Saturday, though it rained a bit on Sunday as I recall.

Except for the Lindenwood tour, I did all the leg work and arrangements for the meeting myself, and hosted the meeting as well. I'll be glad to help you with the arrangements, but I do not want to do all of it again - once is enough!

I still live here in St Louis, and I am a Transport Museum Association member. Unfortunately, I have no contacts with the BNSF or Lindenwood Yard - which is no longer what it was in 1981.

I don't know if the NMOT still has meeting facilities - I'll call and find out. They have several Frisco equipment items in their collection - SLSF 1522, SLSF 1621 and SLSF 3695, plus RPO 251 "Normandy" and some other rolling stock. Lots of other goodies as well! The MoPac Historical Society archives are there, also. 14-4 Meteor sleeper "Cimarron River" is often here in town as well.

Let me know how I can help.

Ken

 

Count me in. I'll bring my girlfriend but I'm not sure how long we can hang out. We haven't been to the NMOT in several years but we went to the U.S.Grant Historical Site last weekend which is very nearby. Jim

 

I was tied up most all of today. I'll give NMOT a call tomorrow and see what we can do about meeting there.

Ken

 

I called NMOT this morning before leaving for the Cardinal baseball game (Our 'birds won 12-3 vs Arizona). Naturally, I got a recording. After pushing all the indicated buttons, I got to the "real human" selection. But, I got a recording that there was "nobody in the office at this time". So, I left a message that our group was planning a meeting in StL on 10/25, and that we would like to hold it at the NMOT. I asked what space they had open, cost, other details, etc. I just returned from Busch Stadium (Albert hit #35, Ludwick hit #36!), and have received no return message from NMOT. I'll try again tomorrow.

Looking at the NMOT web page, they do indeed have a number of facilities for groups to hold meetings in while visiting the museum. There is a slight cost, but I do not know how much. An alternative, of course, would be to just meet there and not have a room to use as a base. Then the only cost is the admission ($6 I believe). There certainly is enough stuff to see there, Frisco and otherwise! We could also plan a field trip to, say, Valley Park, or Eureka, or Pacific, for some train watching. BNSF, and certainly UP, run a lot of stuff through there, essentially side-by-side.

More later.

Ken

 

Given that several very active frisco.org members have a conflict with the proposed meeting date of October 25, should an alternate date be considered?

Ken

 

OK by me. Just thought I'd ask to see if there was any interest in changing dates. I agree we will never find the perfect date with no conflicts.

Craig - I'll still try to get in touch with the NMOT office to see if there is anyting they can do for us on 10/25.

Ken

 

Here are some details regarding the planned meeting of the frisco.org/FMIG faithful at the National Museum of Transportation on Saturday, October 25 here in St Louis:

Weather - hopefully - will be one of those beautiful autumn St Louis days. But, could be raining, or chilly and gray. No guarantees, be flexible!

Hours: 12 noon to 4:00pm. The NMOT will close at 4:00pm.

Admission: Normal - $6.00 adults, $4.00 seniors (>65). As a NMOT member, I can set up a group rate of $4.00 adults, $3.00 seniors if we all go in at once.

Facilities: The NMOT has meeting rooms, but they may not be available on this day as they have other functions going on then. There will be a cost (~$180 for two hours, includes snacks). As others have mentioned, I'd suggest we skip the idea of having a central room. There are several picnic tables around the museum, plus a reception building. Most of our time will be spent out in the museum looking at the exhibits, so I suggest a room would be a waste - too expensive anyway.

What to see: SLSF 1522, SLSF 1621, SLSF 3695 (it's out of the weeds now where you can see it well but is in bad shape), SLSF 3000 autorack, SLSF 251 "Normandy" RPO from "The Meteor" (better hurry before it falls apart!), a SLSF caboose, and the two SLSTA cars that rode behind 1522 on her recent trips. Plus - many other items ..... EMD FT 103, B&O 50, an E-L SD-45, a CB&Q E-8, UP "Big Boy" 4006, UP DD40AX, N&W Y6a, PRR GG1, CB&Q Zephyr "Silver Charger", Rock Island "Aerotrain" locomotive, UP U28C with the FDL engine exposed, GM&O observation, MoP parlor car, NYC "Mohawk", C&O "Kanawha", Milwaukee Road E-2 bipolar, a neat C&IM "Mikado", an original Panama Canal "mule" from the Pedro Miguel lock, a Manufacturers' RR ALCo S-2, a M&StL ALCo RS-1, a MoPac ALCo RS-3, a MKT 4-4-0, a Nickel Plate "Hudson", many more locomotives, lots of rolling stock - freight (some neat tank cars), Pullmans, head end and passenger cars, many cabeese, plus interurbans and streetcars, a C-47 (DC-3), many antique cars and trucks, and best of all, a beautiful, mint (it has only about 300 miles on it!) 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air V-8 convertible - a favorite car of my youth. Lots to see!

Let me know if I can help with any questions about the NMOT, or instructions on how to get there. There is free parking at the museum. Bring your camera - though many of the exhibits are too close together to get good roster shots.

The museum also has a gift shop, book store and snack bar, though the menu is limited to dogs and brats. There are guides, rest areas, and to some degree, the museum is handicap friendly.

Around October 21/22 give me a headcount and I'll get the group rate set up.

Ken |-|