St. Louis–San Francisco Railway

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Reporting Mark: SLSF), commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.
==History==
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway was incorporated in Missouri on September 7, 1876. It was formed from the Missouri Division and Central Division of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. This land grant line was one of two railroads (the other being the M-K-T) authorized to build across Indian Territory. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, interested in the A&P right of way across the Mojave Desert to California, took the road over until the larger road went bankrupt in 1893; the receivers retained the western right of way but divested the ATSF of the St. Louis–San Francisco mileage on the Great Plains. After bankruptcy, the Frisco emerged as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, incorporated on June 29, 1896, which also went bankrupt. 
In 1903, Frisco executives engaged in negotiations to purchase large tracts of land in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana "up to the Orleans Parish line" as part of plans of "gigantic scope" to further the expansion of the company's rail lines and operations facilities across the state. As part of this plan, the executives proposed relocation of the residents of the historically Black community of Fazendeville to the much smaller, neighboring village of Versailles, which was described as a "settlement consist[ing] merely of a row of very small properties along a public road running at right angles from the river to the railroad track"; however, many of Fazendeville's residents resisted and then ultimately refused the railway's financial offers. According to one of the newspapers which reported on those plans, "The Frisco road cannot obtain title to the National Cemetery, but is after all the rest of the river front, and wants to cross the present public road practically at grade in many public places."
On August 24, 1916, the company was reorganized as the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, though the line never went west of Texas, terminating more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from San Francisco.
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway had two main lines: St. Louis–Tulsa–Oklahoma City-Floydada, Texas and Kansas City–Memphis–Birmingham. The junction of the two lines was in Springfield, Missouri, home to the company's main shop facility and headquarters. Other lines included:
*Springfield–Kansas City (via Clinton, Missouri)
*Monett, Missouri (Pierce City)–Wichita, Kansas
*Monett, Missouri–Hugo, Oklahoma–Paris, Texas
*St. Louis–River Junction, Arkansas (Memphis, Tennessee)
*Tulsa, Oklahoma–Dallas, Texas
*Tulsa, Oklahoma–Avard, Oklahoma
*Lakeside, Oklahoma–Hugo, Oklahoma–Hope, Arkansas
*Amory, Mississippi-Pensacola, Florida
From March 1917 through January 1959, the Frisco, in a joint venture with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, operated the Texas Special. This luxurious train, a streamliner from 1947, ran from St. Louis to Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas.
The Frisco merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on November 21, 1980.
The city of Frisco, Texas, was named after the railroad and uses the former railroad's logo as its own logo. The logo is modeled after a stretched-out raccoon skin (giving rise to Frisco High School's mascot, the Fighting Raccoons).
==Passenger trains==
While the Texas Special may be the most famous passenger train operated by Frisco, it was just one of a fleet of named trains. These included:
*Black Gold (a joint Frisco-Katy operation inaugurated between Tulsa and Houston on January 23, 1938 and continuing until January 18, 1960)
*The Bluebonnet (St. Louis to San Antonio—with through service by M-K-T-- leaving early afternoon, arriving Dallas/Ft. Worth the next morning, and arriving San Antonio late afternoon.)
*Chadwick Flyer (Branch line from Springfield to Chadwick, Missouri; discontinued by March 1933)
*Firefly (at various times serving St. Louis, Kansas City, Fort Scott, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City. This was Frisco's first streamliner, and the first streamliner to be built in the southwest, the streamline modifications being done by Frisco itself)
*General Wood (Originally between St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri from May 1941; truncated in June 1942 to service between St. Louis and Newburg, Missouri; and, discontinued entirely in the fall of 1946.)
*Governor (Joplin-Tulsa-Oklahoma City)
*Kansas City–Florida Special (Kansas City–Jacksonville)
*Kansas Limited (St. Louis-Wichita-Ellsworth)
*Kansas Mail (St. Louis-Wichita)
*Memphian (St. Louis–Memphis)
*Memphis Passenger (St. Louis–Memphis)
*Meteor (St. Louis–Tulsa-Oklahoma City by night with connecting train Monett-Fort Smith-Paris, TX)
*Oil Fields Special (Kansas City-Tulsa-Dallas-Ft. Worth, with through service to Houston)
*Oklahoman (Once connected Kansas City–Tulsa but was later rerouted between St. Louis–Oklahoma City)
*Southland (Kansas City–Birmingham) (truncated successor to the Kansas City–Florida Special)
*Southwest Limited (St. Louis-Tulsa-Oklahoma City-Lawton)
*St. Louis-Memphis Limited (St. Louis-Memphis-Birmingham)
*Sunnyland (Kansas City/St. Louis–Atlanta/Pensacola/New Orleans)
*Tulsa Texan (a joint Frisco-Katy operation inaugurated between Tulsa and Houston in 1937, and phased out between March and July 1940)
*Texas Flash (Tulsa-Sherman-Dallas by day)
*Texokla Limited (St. Louis-Springfield-Dallas)
*Texas Limited (St. Louis-Springfield-Dallas, with through service to Houston-Galveston)
*Texas Special (St. Louis-Springfield-Dallas-Ft. Worth, with through service to Austin-San Antonio)
*Will Rogers (St. Louis–Oklahoma City/Wichita by day, 1936-1965; with through service northbound out of St. Louis to Chicago via the Alton Railroad or Wabash Railroad)
==Former Frisco lines today==
The core of the former Frisco system continues to be operated by BNSF Railway as high-density mainlines. Other secondary and branchlines have been sold to shortline operators or have been abandoned altogether.
*Kansas City – Springfield – Memphis – Birmingham: Operated by BNSF
*St. Louis – Springfield – Tulsa – Dallas: Operated by BNSF
*Fort Scott, Kansas to Afton, Oklahoma: Operated by BNSF
*St. Louis to Memphis, Tennessee: Operated by BNSF
*Tulsa, Oklahoma to Avard, Oklahoma: Operated by BNSF
*Fredonia, Kansas to Cherryvale, Kansas to Columbus, Kansas: Operated by South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad
*Cherokee, Kansas to Pittsburg, Kansas: Operated by South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad
*Fredonia, Kansas to Ellsworth, Kansas: Abandoned
*Cherokee, Kansas to Cherryvale, Kansas: Abandoned
*Monett, Missouri to Fort Smith, Arkansas: Operated by Arkansas and Missouri Railroad
*Lakeside, Oklahoma to Hope, Arkansas: Operated by Kiamichi Railroad (Genesee & Wyoming Inc.)
*Tulsa, Oklahoma (Sapulpa) to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Operated by Stillwater Central Railroad
*Oklahoma City to Snyder, Oklahoma: Operated by Stillwater Central Railroad
*Snyder, Oklahoma (Long Siding) to Quanah, Texas: Operated by BNSF
*Enid, Oklahoma to Frederick, Oklahoma: Operated by Grainbelt/Farmrail
*Amory, Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida: Operated by Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway (RailAmerica)
*Springfield to Kansas City (via Clinton)(two routes): Abandoned
*Monett (Pierce City) to Carthage, Missouri: Out of service
*Carthage, Missouri to Wichita, Kansas: Mostly abandoned
*Chaffee, Missouri to Poplar Bluff, Missouri to Hoxie, Arkansas (Hoxie Sub): Abandoned
==Surviving equipment==
* List of preserved locomotives.
===Buildings and structures===
Multiple surviving buildings, structures and locations associated with the Frisco are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Building in Joplin, Missouri, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad Depot in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Depot in Comanche, Texas, the Beaumont St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Retention Pond, and the Beaumont St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Water Tank. Frisco Lake, a small lake in Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri, was named for and owned by the Frisco. The Frisco Building, being the former Frisco headquarters in Springfield built in 1910 and now known as the Landmark Building, is an official City of Springfield counsel-approved landmark. The Frisco Bridge at Memphis was the first bridge over the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, and the third longest bridge in the world at the time of its dedication on May 12, 1892; it is now listed as an National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
==Locomotives==
===4-4-0s===
Locomotives with 4-4-0 wheel arrangements, known as the "American" type because they were considered for many years to be the standard in American locomotives, originally served Frisco in great numbers. In July, 1903, the Frisco had 159 4-4-0's in service, built by twenty-five different companies. Frisco renumbered its units in that year, assigning the 4-4-0's either numbers between 1-299 (140 units), or 2200-series numbers (19 units). The oldest Frisco 4-4-0 locomotive was No. 47, built in 1869 by Hinkley Locomotive Works. The last serving 4-4-0's were retired in 1951.
===4-6-0s===
Even more numerous on the Frisco were 4-6-0 "Ten-wheelers." The first such engines entered the Frisco system in 1870. By 1903, Frisco had a fleet of 430 such locomotives, which were renumbered that year into seven class series, using 400, 500, 600, 700, 1100, 1400, and 2600-series numbers. The last 4-6-0's on the Frisco roster were the 1400 series, with the last engine to be retired from service being #1409, dismantled and sold for scrap in November, 1951.
==Doodlebugs==
Frisco-series 2100 equipment consisted of self-propelled rail motor-cars, mostly gas-electric models, with a few gas-mechanical models given 3000-series numbers. These railway vehicles were commonly known as "Doodlebugs" for their insect-like appearance and the slow speeds at which they would doddle or "doodle" down the tracks. These were used to service various low-volume branch lines in the Frisco organization. An initial order for ten was placed in 1910, with seven more arriving by 1913, putting Frisco in the forefront of gas-electric operation at that time. The initial batch, numbered 2100 to 2109, included nine baggage-coach combinations, as well as one baggage-mail-coach unit. Frisco's peak year for motor-car mileage was 1931, and its fleet at that time included twenty-three gas-electrics, five gas-mechanical cars, four trailer coaches, and six mail-baggage units. The final Frisco run of a Doodlebug was on November 8, 1953, when No. 2128 traveled from Ardmore, Oklahoma for the four hour trip to Hugo, Oklahoma.
==Frisco Series 4300 and 4400==
Two series of Frisco locomotives not surviving were Frisco 4300s and 4400s. These were all 4-8-2 units assembled by Frisco itself in the late 1930s to the early 1940s from other locomotives. Eleven, being units 4300 through 4310, were built in 1936 and 1937 from used 2-10-2 parts. They had 27 x 30 cylinders, 70″ drivers, a boiler pressure of 250 psi, and a tractive effort of 66,400 lbs, weighing 431,110 pounds. Another twenty-three 4-8-2s were built using the boilers from 2-10-2s between 1939 and 1942. Units 4400 through 4412 were oil-burning, while units 4413 through 4422 burned coal. These locomotives had 29 x 32 cylinders, 70″ drivers, a boiler pressure of 210 psi, and a tractive effort of 68,600 lbs. Weighing in at 449,760 pounds, they were the heaviest Mountain-type locomotives ever built.
==Dieselization==
Frisco's first acquisition of diesel locomotives came in November 1941, when the line received five Baldwin VO-1000 switchers of a thousand-horsepower each. Frisco started a serious dieselization program in 1947, which took about five years. When the period of steam power ended for Frisco in February, 1952 with the last run of steam engine 4018, the Frisco's diesel fleet included seventeen 2,250-HP passenger, six 2,000-HP passenger, twelve 1,500-HP combination freight and passenger, one hundred and twenty-three 1,500-HP freight, one hundred and thirty-three 1,500-HP general purpose, eleven 1,000-HP general purpose, and one hundred and five yard-switcher units, for a total of 407 diesel locomotives. At that time, the Frisco became the largest Class I railroad in the U.S. to be operating strictly with diesel power.
The Frisco gave names to its 2000-series diesel passenger locomotives, EMD E7 and (mostly) EMD E8 units, using the theme of famous horses. These included racehorses such as Gallant Fox (#2011), Sea Biscuit (#2013), and Citation (#2016). However, other horses also made the list: for instance, when #2022 was rebuilt after a wreck, it was given the name of Champion, after ex-Frisco-employee Gene Autry's trusty steed in the movies.
==Frisco Silver Dollar Line==
The amusement park Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri runs multiple diesel-fired or heating oil-fired steam trains around the park on its 
2-foot-gauge rail line, known as the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. The Frisco operated in that part of the country, and supplied construction help to the Park, along with the rails and ties, back when this line was being built in 1962. Perhaps for these reasons, the trains sport the Frisco name and logo. However, this was never an actual Frisco rail line, and the steam locomotives started life as industrial engines on German intraplant railroads, not as actual rolling stock on the Frisco.
==Predecessors==
The following companies were predecessors of the Frisco:
*Pacific Railroad, charter granted by Missouri on March 3, 1849
*Southwest Pacific Railroad, John C. Frémont reorganized in August 1866
*Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, incorporated on July 27, 1866
*Arkansas and Choctaw Railway; 1895
==Acquisitions==
The following railroads were acquired or merged into the Frisco:
*Missouri and Western Railway: 1879
*St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway: 1882
*Springfield and Southern Railroad: 1885
*Kansas City and Southwestern Railroad: 1886
*Fayetteville and Little Rock Railroad: 1887
*Fort Smith and Southern Railway: 1887
*Kansas City, Osceola and Southern Railway: 1900
*Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad: 1901
*St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway: 1901
*Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway: 1901
*Arkansas Valley and Western Railway: 1907
*Blackwell, Enid and Southwestern Railway: 1903
*Red River, Texas and Southern Railway: 1904
*Oklahoma City and Texas Railroad: December 19, 1904
*Crawford County Midland Railroad: June 20, 1905
*Oklahoma City and Western Railroad: 1907 – December 19, 1910
*Sapulpa and Oil Field Railroad: 1917
*West Tulsa Belt Railway: 1922
*Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad:1924
*Pittsburg and Columbus Railway (Pittsburg, Kansas): 1925–1926
*Springfield Connecting Railway: May 11, 1926
*Kansas City and Memphis Railway and Bridge Company: 1928
*Paris and Great Northern Railroad: July 21, 1928
*Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway: September 1, 1928
*Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad: December 28, 1948
*Central of Georgia Railway: 1956. The Interstate Commerce Commission did not approve the purchase, so the Frisco sold it to Southern Railway in 1961.
*Northeast Oklahoma Railroad: December 27, 1963 (Division dissolved February 27, 1967; Roads involved include: NEO RR, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Interurban Railroad, Joplin and Pittsburg Railway and Oklahoma Traction Company)
===Asset absorptions===
The following is a list of partial or full asset absorptions, many times through bankruptcy courts or creditors. In some cases the Frisco was a creditor. Assets can include mineral rights, property, track and right of way, trains, bonds, mortgages, etc.
*St. Louis, Wichita and Western Railway: 1882
*St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railroad: 1898
*Kansas Midland Railroad: October 23, 1900
*Oklahoma City Terminal Railroad: 1900–1903
*Fort Smith and Van Buren Bridge Company: 1907
*Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway: 1907
*St. Louis, Memphis and Southern Railroad: 1907
*Sulphur Springs Railway: 1907
*Joplin Railway: 1910
*Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway: 1919–1937
*Fayetteville and Little Rock Railroad: 1926
*Little Rock and Texas Railway: 1926
*Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad: September 1, 1928
*Muscle Shoals, Birmingham and Pensacola Railroad: 1928–1947
*Miami Mineral Belt Railroad: 1950
*St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern Railroad: 1950
*St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railway: 1963–1964
*Birmingham Belt Railroad: 1967 (liquidation of BB RR and distribution of assets)
==See also==
*Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway
*St. Louis–San Francisco 1522
*St. Louis-San Francisco 1630
==Gallery==
* Gallery
==External links==
*Frisco.org - St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
*Frisco.org – Official Preservation Site
*Frisco Archive – Photos and documents relating to the Frisco Railroad
*The Frisco: A Look Back at the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (historical information at the Springfield-Greene County Library District)
*Mike Condren's Frisco Railroad Homepage
*The Frisco Railroad in Kansas
*Western Historical Manuscript Collection—Rolla—University of Missouri-Rolla "Guide to the Historical Records of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Company" Retrieved September 16, 2005
*"The Frisco in photographs," Classic Trains magazine, January 18, 2001, accessed 13 February 2020. Includes photos and system map.
*"Frisco System," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed 5 April 2011.
*Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
Category:St. Louis-San Francisco Locomotives
Category:St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
Category:Frisco locomotives
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Category:Class I Railroads
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Category:Defunct Class I Railroads
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