South Springfield Shop Map circa 1910 from the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map collection. For a photo, see page 264 of FRISCO POWER by Joe Collias.
From the University of Missouri Library Systems digital library, here are 1910 era Sanborn maps of the North Springfield Shops, to supplement what Doug has provided. http://digital.library.umsystem.edu....jpg;viewid=SANBORN6191.JPG;start=1;resnum=11 http://digital.library.umsystem.edu....jpg;viewid=SANBORN6192.JPG;start=1;resnum=12
The Winter 2008 issue of Classic Trains has a a short article with a two-page aerial view of the Springfield West Shops complex circa 1946, with labels identifying the major buildings. Bradley A. Scott
My 2nd great grandfather George Holden was the foreman of the Coach Department at the Frisco shops in the 1890's in Springfield, where would that have been? Would it be in these maps?
Melody - First, welcome to the group. I'll make a bit of a guess, here, but with his ties to Phillipsburg and the time frame you've indicated, I'd wager that he worked for the SL&SF, who had their original facilities in the yards just to the north of Commercial Street. I'm not sure of any coach shops/yards per se that would have been located here, and the maps above are well after the 1890s, but it seems the only logical choice to me. The "South Shops" were for the at-that-time-separate Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis, and the "West Shops" had yet to be constructed. (Sidenote: I think the file listed above as 1910 Springfield S. Yard 3 b.jpg might actually be the West Shops. The layout of the various facilities seems to jive with the West Shops and the "lake" located just to the SW seems to cinch it). Best Regards,
Hi Chris... I am sorry for confusing you. I had many ancestors who worked for the SL and SF railroads... all of them worked out of Springfield. Presently I have found 15 ancestors who worked for this railroad. The Phillisburg reference was to my great grandfather... who worked in the baggage car... he was in an accident that caused his death, the accident occurred some where around Phillisburg... and was written about in a Conway Paper. So all of them worked out of Springfield. Two of my female relatives worked as clerks in the Springfield office.... I have a picture of my great grandmother working in that office (when I can figure out how to scan photo's I will post that pic) A funeral announcement is where it said that George A Holden was the Foreman of the Coach Department, Frisco Shop, Springfield (1891). There was a large article about another part of my family Hall's, it was an article about the retirement of the last Hall from the Frisco Railroad... the article said that between all the brothers and the father had a total of 185 years of service between them. They were machinists most of them.... some Foreman's. The only family member who worked on the trains was my great grandfather who died in an accident. I want to share what I can about these family members who it seems like Frisco was a family business. So everyone worked out of Springfield if that makes a difference.
Hey Chris when I blew up the picture of the Springfield Shops... over on the left... I found the Coach Shop... where my second great grandfather was the foreman. Thanks.... also saw a couple of my ancestors who worked for Frisco were called blacksmiths. Melody