Researching Andover, KS Depot and Frisco Logo

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by Larry, Feb 25, 2022.

  1. Larry

    Larry Member

    Hello from Kansas! As part of a research project I'm working on at WSU I'm looking for further information on the two items below. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

    Part 1:

    I'm researching the Frisco Depot that was built in Andover, KS in 1880, depot No. F494. Can anyone tell me what the "F" stands for and does 494 reflect the number of depots that had been built up until that time? I've been able to determine that the depot was still standing in February of 1963 but have been unable to determine what happened to it. It appears the Great Plans Transportation Museum in Wichita was attempting to acquire it in the 60's but aside from that I'm at a loss. This info was in the March-April 1993 edition of the Frisco "Y" Connection.

    Part 2:

    In research on the racoon skin that was nailed to the side of the train depot in Neosho, MO and VP GH Nettleton saw it, bought it and used it for the design of the Frisco logo I had found that as of 1960 the original skin was hanging in the General Office Building in St. Louis. I am curious to know if anyone knows anything about the possible whereabouts of it now or anything else related to the logo.

    Thanks for any assistance

    Larry
     
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  2. mark

    mark Staff Member Staff Member

    Larry,

    Quick note in response to your inquiries.

    Part 1 - F494 refers to the subdivision and mile post of the Andover depot. The "F" references the railroad's subdivision. In this case the Wichita Subdivision (Neodesha, KS to Wichita, KS).

    The numbers reference the distance from mile post (MP) 0.0. Most Frisco timetables show the station number as 493, not 494. In this case, Andover is 493.5 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, MP 0.0. The Frisco's East-West lines are measured from St. Louis, while the North-South lines are measured from Kansas City, Missouri, also MP 0.0 (North-South).

    Andover depot floor plan can be found at the following link. In contrast to the railroad's timetables as noted above it does show the station number as 494. The Operations Department timetables use mile post references, where the Bridge and Building Department must have rounded the mileage up. Please see https://www.condrenrails.com/Frisco/Station Floor Plans/Kansas Stations/KS.Andover.pdf

    The Andover depot was retired, torn down and scrapped.

    Part 2 - The wording enclosed within the corporate herald has been modified slightly over time. Lettering has included stacked "Frisco Lines" and "Frisco System". The corporate herald has also appeared with the full railroad name, "St. Louis - San Francisco Railway" spelled out in a rectangle below the coonskin.

    Subsidiary railroad lines have also been enclosed within the herald, including the "AT&N" (Alabama, Tennessee & Northern (AT&N) Railroad) and "Quanah" for the Quanah, Acme and Pacific (QA&P) Railroad.

    In addition, the railroad also used the coonskin herald as number plates with locomotive numbers on the front of its steam locomotives. The herald was generally located as a bracket below the front headlight on the smokebox door. Afterward, in the age of diesel-electric motive power both "Frisco" and number plate heralds appeared on a number of diesel locomotives.

    The herald containing "Built by Frisco" also appeared on Springfield Consolidated Car Shops built cars. These included the black with white lettering 100 ton capacity 87,000, 88,000 and 89,000 series open hoppers and the 1726-1735 series bay window cabooses.

    The original Frisco coonskin is now located at the corporate offices of the second successor railroad, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad. It is part of the railroad's extensive collection of historical items from its predecessor railroads. In addition to the Frisco, these include the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad, Great Northern (GN), Northern Pacific (NP), Spokane, Portland and Seattle (SP&S) and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) Railways.

    Their corporate campus is located at 2600 Lou Menk Drive, Ft. Worth, Texas 76131.

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks!

    Mark
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2022
    Larry likes this.
  3. Larry

    Larry Member

    Mark,

    Thank you so much for the clarifications and additional information. I found it very interesting about the station number, there's always a catch to things that make a story more interesting. I definitely need to make it to BNSF corporate offices to see what they have on display. I grew up in ND across the road from a BN East-West freight line, miss the old green's running by every 45 minutes.

    Are you aware of any source that shows the total number of depots that Frisco has built over the years?

    I had found the blueprints on the Missouri State University Digital Collections as well. They have four different collections on Frisco. If you've not already seen this you can go to: https://cdm17307.contentdm.oclc.org/ then scroll down (alphabetical order) to Frisco.

    Thanks again for all the info

    Larry
     

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