A few years ago, I made copies of River Division ETT Number 12, July 19, 1925 for Chris Abernathy to use as a reference for his excellent opus on the River Division Operations. However, I don’t believe that I ever posted its contents. Due to the large size of the original, I had to make a reduced Xerox copy in order to digitize it. As Chris mentions, when this ETT came into effect operations on the River Division were near their zenith. Within 10 years, the onslaught of the private automobile, trucking, and the effects of the depression would see the abandonment of several the branches and the reduction in train frequency, and the reduction in train service. In terms of mileage, at this time, the River Division had yet to reach its apex; the Frisco would acquire the JL&E during 1925. The largest power "permitted" on the St Louis - Turrel mainline were the 1040 class, 4-6-2s and sisters from the 1306 class, 2-8-0s. The legions of 4-4-0s, 2-6-0s, and 4-6-0s plied the branch lines. Several "ancient" 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s from the 2200 series and 2600 series remained on the roster. The Bull Mooses handled passenger traffic on the Leachville Sub. The timetable lists a daily, except Sunday Blytheville, Leachville and Arkansas Southern log train between Arbyrd and Leachville. The Frisco crossed several other logging roads, e.g., Brown Stave RR, etc., and these are also listed. ADMIN NOTE: Complete ETT in pdf posted below:
Thanks a million! I just printed that stuff and I learned a lot about my branch line and the year 1925 is right on the mark for my modeling. Thanks again.
Thanks Karl - this is great stuff! I printed off a copy - we are about to leave for a visit over to Olathe to get up to date on our every 6-8 week need for a granddaughter fix. This, and your and my SLSF track profiles, will be my reading material when the kids are taking their naps! I have some old SLSF ETT's as well - when I return back home, I'll pull them out and perhaps also do a posting of one or two. These things make for great reading with a glass of adult beverage (or two)! Ken
Karl, It's great to see this information online - many thanks. Indeed, I owe a great debt to your sharing this and other ETTs back when. At that point I had but an inkling of how things really worked on the River Division, much less the Frisco in general. All I knew was that I didn't care much for running my HO-scale trains in a loop and wanted to know more about how the Frisco had moved people and stuff from here to there, and vice-versa. ETT #12 is a delicious one. Mainline activity aside, I don't think the 4000-class Mikes arrived until about 1929 or so, the Caruthersville Branch timetable is splendid. Even the Deering Branch was still active, making Pascola, MO a happening place to be. As it is, I can't even find photos of the Pascola depot. When one reads the Frisco Employee's Magazines from this era, it's a fascinating time of fast delivery of customer's shipments, and then, if involving a foreign road car, moving it BACK to its owner road ASAP to avoid the per diem, and talk of Frisco Clubs' efforts to keep business from making the switch to trucks. Jim, Based on the Zalma branch timetable, you're gonna need some HO-sized white flags for your Monday/Wednesday/Friday freight runs to and from Zalma! Best Regards,
