I drove down to Rolla last week for Thursday/Friday meetings with the Chemical Engineering Department of Missouri University of Science & Technology (still MSM to me!). Though the weather was not very good on Friday, I took the opportunity to take a look at the old Frisco Eastern Division in several places. Everywhere I looked, the old SLSF looked pretty good! Fresh, neat ballast, and nice looking, shiny rail. I guess the stories of the demise of the Eastern Division were somewhat incorrect. I only saw one train, but heard several - I always stay at a place close to the rails. Drove down to Newburg Thursday afternoon - the place looks the same as always, but there is quite a bit of work going on in the "yard". Looked like new rail, with several ballast cars sitting there. Does anybody know what they are doing? There is some work going on out around the turntable pit. What is that about? Alas, the Houston House did not look so good. See the pic. Those great home-made biscuits and Mrs. Nolan's apple butter are long gone. Frisco cab SLSF 1111 is still there, but looking a bit strained. See the pic. The Newburg Historical Society is still there, but was closed with no sign of life. But ... as always, the bar over the creek ("the Branch") is still there and was going strong. See the pic. I was in a business suit, so I chose not to go in. In Rolla, I stopped off at the former site of the station to pay my respects to the location where I watched a zillion trains. Sad. There is a restored caboose there - a former GN cab, decorated as SLSF 1501. Hmmm. Frisco 4-8-2 Mountain SLSF 1501 is still there at Frisco Park, looking about as always. While a student at MSM in the early 1960's, I remember it in its glory before some of her goodies were stolen. But, she survives, and is under cover. Even though BN/BNSF has removed most of the neat stuff I used to love looking at, it was good to be close to the Frisco again. Ken
Here are a few additional pics from my Rolla/Newburg trip last week: - The former GN cab done up as SLSF 1501 in Rolla - The former Rolla station site (hard to tell a neat depot was there) - The Lyric Theater in Newburg (begs to be modeled) - The Newburg Historical Society building & cab SLSF 1111 - The Branch flowing under the corner bar in Newburg Ken
Thanks for the memories... While I'm attached to the Frisco here in south Alabama, its always great to hear and see other SLSF locations and stories. I've owned cab 1215 since 1994 and am typing to you from it right now. Just had it repainted last year and it looks great. Will post some pics one of these days. Got lucky and picked up a signal that came from the main line south of springfield.. Another prize possession is the Frisco stainless steel sign from the freight house in Pensacola. I'm in Atmore, grow up riding the local that served our town through 1970. Am still a loyal fan/collector. Am still amazed that very little is ever printed about SLSF in Trains or any other magazine. Love to chat more sometime.
Here are three more pics of Newburg, taken on April 17, 2008, one looking westbound (Newburg on the right) and two looking eastbound (Newburg on the left). In the westbound view, you can see several ballast dump gons parked in the yard. The road crossing the tracks leads to a bridge over the Little Piney River in the direction opposite from Newburg. The river looked very nice last week. A few miles downstream, past the location of Bundy Junction (Ft. Wood branch), the Little Piney flows into the Gasconade River. Pretty country! The Newburg yard is a far cry from what it once was. But, it's still there, and the BNSF seems to be making some improvements. Long live the Frisco Eastern Division! Ken
Ken: I stopped by the other bar 'Perry's' last week and they told me that they are clearing the area across from Front street to put a park in. I hope so. Anyone interested in stepping back into time . Drive up those steep hills overlooking Newburg Mo. This time of spring you can see for miles. Most of the area on the hills have not change for over 70 years . steve---
old post but yes we are building a park where the old round house and turn table was. its slow going but were making it happen
the entire area from the rail lines (120' from them any way) all the way to the river. its like 22-23 acres give or take. and yes it goes all the way to the piney. theirs plans for camping and such on the west end where the river comes back toward the rail lines. i have a map of what there wanting to do i will see about scanning it for you
My dad is a Newburg native and my whole family buried there. If you ever go to the cemetery and see this, its my grandma. She was pretty funny.
Thank you Karl. It's not as much as I would think, wonder how many people worked for Frisco? Probably a third to half of the population. Joe
HA, yeah they keep their tactical assault vehicle hidden between the Houston House and the old telephone office just waiting for someone to turn around in the driveway. You would have been tasered, pepper gassed and taken to interrogation at the gas station in Doolittle. Seriously though, hopefully you figured out where the turntable had been, roundhouse, yard etc.... its hard to picture now what an important part of the Frisco it was at one point.
