VO Series

Discussion in 'Baldwin Locomotive Works' started by paul, Sep 2, 2001.

  1. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Yes, you have circled the radiator cap.

    I originally got cute and painted it silver because I remember one VO that I saw at Lindenwood that had a chrome cap on it. But, I have painted it black since.

    That is a crummy picture I took of SLSF 213 from about a year or so ago. I have got to take some better ones, sans flash, and at better angles. I have also improved it a bit since.

    Need pictures of the two TRRA units as well. The other three Frisco units are still in the finishing shop. They have been there about nine months.

    We work slow here! :cool:

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 14, 2024
  2. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    For the record, and to replace that early poor picture of the same model, here are roster shots of my Stewart Frisco VO-1000, SLSF 213.

    FYI, I have not yet relocated, or changed, the horn.

    And, yes, I got the cab roof "nail" antenna a bit to the left of the cab center line. That i's what happens when you are in your mid-60s, so you younger fellows beware, it is coming!

    I will likely replace the "nail" with a "firecracker" antenna, as that is what the pictures we talked about earlier regarding the horn placement indicated this Frisco VO carried. Once again our Frisco gives us mystery. Some of the VO's used "nail", some of them used "firecracker" antennas.

    I also will likely want to add the striped safety visibility panels to the front and rear porch handrails that the SLSF BLW units usually carried. I did that to a Frisco DS-4-4-1000 I made from an Athearn S-12, but have not done that to this Stewart model yet.

    Ken
     

    Attached Files:

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  3. JamesT

    JamesT Member

    Hello everyone,

    Finally got my VO-1000 detailed.

    Put a NCE KRS-SR decoder in it and it runs fine. Then I went to put the shell on and ran into a problem. I cannot get everything to fit under the hood.

    I filled off the holes for the stacks and did some minor filing to get it to fit. But it still rides up on the off side from whichever end I get set down and the tabs engaged.

    Anyone have a suggestion?

    I would like to stay with the NCE decoder it has it really runs quiet and smooth.

    James T
     
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  4. gna

    gna Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I had to play around with mine to get it to seat down with a TCS T1 under the hood.

    When it is just so I can get it to fit. It is a pain though. See TCS website for installation. TCS has moved on from the T1.

    I found a picture of SLSF 224, with four short stacks as Ken indicated right here on Frisco.org! It is in the Frisco Archive. Please see the following link.

    http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/vo-1000-224.7935/
    [​IMG]

    Moderator's note: Put a smaller/thinner N or Z decoder such as a DZ125, M-1 or Lenz Silver in for clearance.
     
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  5. grace65746

    grace65746 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks for the verification on the number of stacks that are on the engine SLSF 224.

    I have received the VO-1000 model offered by Stewart yesterday, and I am looking forward to putting the details on it real soon.

    Gary Wayne
     
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  6. grace65746

    grace65746 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Hello guys:

    I have stumbled across the November 2002 issue of Model Railroader the other day while doing some house cleaning

    Found an article on modeling 1950 Southern style which was a layout referred to as the Bluff City Southern by Allen Keller. On page 80, there is a photograph of a Frisco VO-1000 with two short stacks on it. Probably an error on the modeler's part but I will not knock the modeler for it.

    Meteor 910 seems positive about SLSF 224 having four short stacks on it and remained that way until it was retired and traded in. The model on page 80 that I mentioned about earlier was SLSF 224 as well.

    Gary Wayne
     
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  7. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Gary - Most of the Frisco VO-1000's had one stack. Several had four stacks, a few had two stacks. Baldwin kept changing the stacks around for who knows what reason.

    Fear not - SLSF 224 was a Baldwin four-stacker. I have no reason to believe it was not that way until it was retired - all the pics I recall seeing of it show four stacks.

    The Frisco put spark arrestors on at least one of the four stack VO-1000's, the same spark arrestor they used on the F-units. That made for a strange looking dude!

    Ken
     
  8. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    As a follow-up to Gary's and my posts above, I took a quick look through my pictures, not all of them, of Frisco's Baldwin VO-660 and VO-1000 diesel switchers.

    I did a "stack count" for the series. The SLSF had two VO-660s, SLSF 600-601, later renumbered to SLSF 60-61, and 38 VO-1000s , SLSF 200-237.

    Based on this photographic evidence, though it is not complete, I find the following:

    Both of the VO-660s were single stack

    VO-1000s:

    Single stackers: Perhaps all of them from SLSF 200 to about SLSF 222, except for SLSF 207. But, I do not have them all. There may be a few above 222 as well, but my pictures are not complete. I don't have a good shot of all the VOs. Of course, after SLSF 200-208, 210, & 215 were repowered by EMD with 12-567-c engines, they carried two EMD style stacks.

    Two stackers: For sure SLSF 223, 225, 226, 228, 229. I am unable to explain SLSF 225, as I have a picture of it with two stacks and a picture of it with four stacks. Once again, the Frisco delights in keeping us confused!

    Four stackers: SLSF 207, 224, 225 (see above), 231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 237.

    FFF = fun, fun, fun!

    Ken
     
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  9. Sirfoldalot

    Sirfoldalot Frisco.org Supporter Frisco.org Supporter

    Ken,

    You can add the three VO-1000s that I posted to your list.

    211 - I am unsure about, but appears to be single stack.
    214 - Single stack
    230 - Four stacks

    BTW - That is one fine locomotive you have there.

    Beautiful work! :)

    Sherrel
     
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  10. gbmott

    gbmott Member

    Ken

    Interesting that you picked SLSF 213 to model.

    She was the resident switch engine in Fort Smith for something in the neighborhood of ten years from the mid-late 1950s. This explains why Louis and I photographed it so many times.

    I do not know when she finally went elsewhere. I had done so before she did!

    Gordon
     
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  11. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Sherrel,

    Thanks!

    The Stewart VO-1000 is a nice model. So are their VO-660 and the DS-4-4-1000 models. I still have both of those to complete as Frisco units. Stewart also makes the Baldwin S-8, with three stacks, and S-12 models, but the Frisco did not roster those.

    Gordon,

    I did my VO-1000 model as SLSF 213 as that was the number supplied on the SLSF decorated kit. I do not like Stewart's fonts for lettering and numbers, the font letters and numbers are way too thick. So I relettered and renumbered it using the MicroScale #87-85 Frisco decal set. I love that decal set. I think MicroScale got the font and the yellow color dead on.

    I kept the unit as SLSF 213 so I could keep the Stewart numbers in the number boards, which are quite well done. I also kept the number on the cab end as it looked fine. Just the "FRISCO" on the hood sides and the cab side numbers were replaced. I had trouble finding numbers of the right size and the correct font for the nose coonskin number plate, so it does not look quite right because the numbers are slightly different looking.

    What can you do?

    I also toned down the Stewart bright yellow on the pilots, handrails, grabs, etc. Too bright! Plus, I blackened some of the footboard support bars on the pilots, as my pictures showed they were black on the real unit.

    It turned out OK and is a sweet runner.

    I still have Stewart kits for VO-1000 SLSF 224, DS-4-4-1000 SLSF 238 and VO-660 SLSF 601 to do. I imagine I will do them the same as on SLSF 213. It seems I have a huge backlog of stuff to do!

    Glad to hear of your history with the real SLSF 213. Lots of good pictures of that engine.

    I always liked the Baldwin switchers. I did not see many of Frisco's Baldwins in person, but I remember seeing one, a four-stacker, in a movie. The VO engine turned at such a low RPM that you could see the exhaust cycle puff out of each stack individually.

    The VO-1000 was an eight cylinder engine, so I guess each of the four stacks caught only two cylinders. I often wondered why Baldwin kept changing their exhaust system, it seemed often they changed it unit to unit.

    I wonder if it was a common manifold, even on the four stacker?

    Ken
     
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  12. Coonskin

    Coonskin Member

    Wow... the old Frisco Baldwin VO's. Man oh, man... the MEMORIES!

    First noticed as a lad in KC area... then got up close and personal with them at the Ft. Smith yard beginning in late '69 (I think). Rode many a time with various of the hoggers as they thrashed cars in the Ft. Smith yard and worked the various industries around Ft. Smith.

    Most memorable night spent on a Baldwin had to be the one I took with engineer Harry Carroll (deceased) and crew working the night switcher on a cold winter's night. Started off switching the yard, building the outbound train. Train built it was off for the south and switch the huge and (then) thriving Whirlpool plant. From there we hit "The Alleys", popping in and out among the tall buildings of Ft. Smith proper spotting and pulling the various cars from such customers as Ft. Smith Paper, Armour Co., Swift Co., and others. Got back to the yard in the darkness of early morning. What an experience for this budding railroader (at the time).

    Would dearly love to hear the sound of an idling 8 cylinder De Lavergne prime mover one more time!

    FWIW: Sometimes in the colder months when I enter the cab of an idling A&M T-6 switch engine... it is toasty warm and ALMOST has that wonderful smell like those old Frisco Baldwin's. In so doing, often times memories flood my mind of past Frisco Baldwin experiences.

    Andre Ming
     
  13. U-3-b

    U-3-b Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 14, 2024
  14. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Though the picture above is of the EMD repowered SLSF Baldwin VO-1000ms, SLSF 202 and SLSF 204, the cab is pure Baldwin.

    Love those Frisco VOs!

    Ken
     
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  15. friscomike

    friscomike Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks for the cool memory Andre.

    I love to hear those stories.

    Mike
     
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  16. Frisco2008

    Frisco2008 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks to all of the information presented here.

    I have ordered a Lok Sound decoder for my SLSF 224.

    Does anyone recall the magazine and date of the SLSF layout plan with the swing-out section, etc.

    It featured a VO-1000 out on a branch line.
     
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  17. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Baldin VO-1000 SLSF 229.

    I came across this rather poor picture of SLSF 229, a Baldwin VO-1000, in a collection of negatives I have of various shots of the Frisco in and around the Enid, OK area.

    Note:
    - SLSF 229 is one of the rather rare two-stack VO-1000s the SLSF had. Most were one-stack or four-stack.
    - Can anyone explain the paint job?
    I have never seen a coonskin used on the side of a Frisco locomotive other than on the small 44-ton and 45-ton "critters". Must have been an experiment.
    - Are the trucks and air tank silver, or gray?
    - Notice you can easily see the radiator cap behind the headlight. Most people forget to model this, as the otherwise very nice Stewart VO model does not include it. Stewart forgot too!
    - Is that a Frisco stock car in the background?
    - Note 229 also is fitted with a "wagon wheel" antenna.

    These negatives were given to me many years ago by a gentleman I befriended over the internet while conversing about my old "Roster Tales" articles done for the Frisco Museum's All Aboard publication.

    I regret I cannot recall his name, or the history behind the photographs. Most of them are shots of GP38-2s and GP7s, but there are a few other interesting ones as well. This one is the most unusual in my mind.

    Anybody know the history of this?

    Ken
     

    Attached Files:

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  18. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    Ken.

    Very early picture.

    Someone can probably identify the location by the smoke stack in the background.

    Also stock cars in the photograph.

    Tom
     
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  19. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I agree with Tom.

    The Baldwin VO-1000 pictures are old.

    Here are the other three BLW VO-1000 pictures I have from the "Enid" negative collection.

    SLSF 60, VO-660, formerly SLSF 600

    SLSF 226, VO-1000, another two-stacker and in the original paint scheme

    SLSF 231, VO-1000, a four-stacker

    These are fun - I should have cataloged them years ago!

    I had forgotten about them and found them today.

    Ken
     

    Attached Files:

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  20. friscoWyatt

    friscoWyatt Member

    Do you guys know how many Baldwin VO-660s that the Frisco owned?


    I loved the Frisco VO-1000s especially in Mandarin orange and white paint.

    How do the Baldwin VO-1000s stack up to the F-M H-12-44 switchers?
     
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