VO-1000 No. 204, June 30, 1944, Lindenwood Yards, St. Louis, MO.Frisco photo

This Roster Tale and thenext to follow, will concludethe series on Frisco diesel yardpower with a discussion of thefirst diesels received and putinto service by the Frisco - the38 Baldwin VO-1000's, whichprovided reliable service from1941 until the last of theirkind were retired in the 1970's.Their road numbers were SLSF200-237. This article will dis-cuss the VO-1000's as theywere received and used for manyyears. The follow-up articlewill cover the repowering ofseveral of the VO-1000's withEMD engines, plus will coverthe four Baldwin DS-4-4-1000's,a model that followed the VO-1000's, obtained by the Friscoin 1948. These later Baldwin'swere numbered SLSF 238-241.

In November of 1941,while world tensions were ris-ing rapidly with the on-goingwar in Europe and the ap-proaching war in the Pacific,the Frisco took delivery of fiveBaldwin VO-1000 dieselswitching locomotives, SLSF200-204. These were the firstdiesel locomotives purchasedand received by the Frisco, and,in fact, were the first new loco-motives on the railroad in overten years, following the twentySLSF 4200 series 2-8-2Mikado's, which appeared in1930 at the peak of the de-pression. Baldwin was long afavorite locomotive supplier tothe Frisco, so it was logicalthat the first diesel on the

railroad would come from thatsame builder. Following thefirst five VO-1000's, 33 morewere purchased, with the last,SLSF 237, arriving in June,1946, well after the war ended.As discussed already in aprevious Roster Tales (March-April, 1993), two smallerBaldwin's, VO-660's SLSF 600-601, were also purchased in1942.

The VO-1000 was a ratherlarge, hefty switcher locomo-tive when compared to itscompetitors from EMD, Alco,F-M, and Lima. The VO-1000,as the name indicates, devel-oped 1,000 HP from an in-line,four cycle, eight cylinder "VO"engine which ran at a rela-tively low 625 maximum RPM.They were of the traditionalend-cab design, with a front

mounted radiator and highmounted headlight. They rodeon four-wheel AARType A trucks.

The Baldwin LocomotiveWorks often changed smalldetails of their locomotivesalmost randomly, even withinthe same series. So it waswith the VO-1000's - as typi-fied by the 38 owned by theFrisco. Some, including thefirst, came with one exhauststack. However, others car-ried four stacks, and yet oth-ers had only two. They were,however, well built, rugged,tough locomotives which pos-sessed great pulling power andwere well liked by both man-agement and the operatingcrews.

The first VO-1000's onthe Frisco were decorated inwhat must have been a very

attractive paint scheme - painteddark blue, with a white (lightgray?) stripe running the lengthof each side. Within the whiteband, the name FRISCO LINESappeared in red letters on theside of the engine hood, withthe road number appearing onthe side of the cab below thewindow, also in red. That col-orful paint scheme must havebeen judged too expensive tomaintain, however, as the lo-comotives were repainted tothe familiar solid black withyellow lettering as they wereshopped. According to themuseum's photo archives, therewere at least four black andyellow variations applied to theBaldwin's. At the end of theirlives, some appeared in theFrisco's Mandarin Orange &White livery. I do not knowhow many of the VO-1000'swere delivered in the originalblue & white paint scheme beforethe black & yellow becamestandard. The museum's photoarchives have evidence of upto No. 225 in the blue & white.If any of our All Aboard readerscan provide additional infor-mation, please contact themuseum office. One feature ofthe VO-1000 decor followed inthe footsteps of Frisco's steamlocomotive roster - each VO-1000 had its road numberdisplayed proudly at the top ofits radiator, right below theheadlight, inside a Frisco"coonskin" emblem.

The 38 VO-1000's rep-resented the largest roster interms of numbers of any singlediesel switcher on the Friscountil the 46 SW 1500's werepurchased from EMD startingin 1968. The big Baldwin'swere easy to like and foundtheir way to almost all parts ofthe SLSF system after the firstfive were delivered for use at

Frisco No. 204, as originally delivered from Baldwin, June 30, 1944,Lindenwood Yards, St. Louis, MO. Frisco photo

Frisco No. 227, in what appears to befirst black & yellow paint scheme. Notethe FRISCO LINES lettering and number still in original lettering style, steps,grab irons, and railings in black, and solid yellow stripe along walkwayedge. The black was Black Duco #254-2234 and all yellow was Target YellowDuco #249-3404. Photo taken by Arthur Johnson, November 31, 1947,Springfield, MO.

Frisco No. 200, in what appears to be second black & yellow paint scheme.Note the FRISCO LINES lettering and number still in original lettering style,steps, grab irons, and railings in black, and diagonal yellow striping alongwalkway edge. All the diagonal stripes were 6" wide and spaced 6" apart.The FRISCO LINES lettering and number were 12" high. Photo taken by

Arthur Johnson, August 21, 1948, Springfield, MO.

Frisco No. 206, in what appears to be variation number three of the black &yellow paint scheme. Note the FRISCO LINES has been shortened to FRISCO,still in original lettering style, and the steps, grab irons, and railings arenow yellow. Photo taken by Arthur Johnson, June 7, 1948, Springfield, MO.

Frisco No. 223, in black & yellow paint scheme numberfour. Note the changein lettering and number style. The diagonal side stripes are now spaced 12"apart, the front corner stripes have been reduced to three downfrom the top,and thefront railing panel has only two stripes. Frisco company photo takenoutside Springfield, MO diesel shop, circa. 1960.

Frisco No. 222 in final Mandarin Orange & White paint scheme. Photo fromthe collection of Larry Thomas, taken October, 1968, at Fayetteville, AR.

Lindenwood Yard in St. Louis.In their late years on the Frisco,the VO-1000's spent their lastdays of service working in andaround Kansas City before beingretired and sold in 1979.

The Baldwin VO-1000was popular not only on theFrisco - 548 units were built intotal, making them one of themore successful diesel switchertypes. Several are still in ser-vice today serving small rail-roads or industrial firms.

There is no good HO modelavailable beyond the four dif-ferent runs from Hallmark inthe 1970's-1980's. The VO-1000's represent the last, highlypopular type of early dieselswitcher locomotive that hasyet to be produced in quantityby today's major HO locomo-tive manufacturers. PerhapsAthearn, Atlas, Kato or Waltherswill read this article and rec-tify this problem! I hope so, asthe VO-1000's were a majorpart of the Frisco's diesel his-tory, and were one of my per-sonal favorites.

The next Roster Talewill finish the saga of Frisco'sfirst diesels by discussing therepowering that was given tosome of them, plus will reviewthe four "new improved" VO'sthat the Frisco bought - theBaldwin DS-4-4-1000's, whichwere much more graceful inreal life than their awkwardname would imply.

Editor's Note:According to the January 10, 1995,issue of Flimsies #181, publishedby the Shasta Rail Group, ex-Frisco VO-1000 diesel locomotives206 and 215 are included in thecurrent US military locomotiveroster for California. Ex-Frisco206 is now US #65-00625 and 215is US #65-0095.

Congratulations to the St. Louis Steam Train Associa-tion for Frisco 1522 being selected as the cover photofor the 1995-96 Official Highway Map of Missouri!

Motive PowerE8 Diesel 2013 Sea BiscuitE8 Diesel 2018 Ponder

ConsistSLSF Baggage #43074' Baggage/Express built byACF in 1930SLSF Baggage #35360'9" Baggage/Express built byPullman in 1908, rebuilt bySLSF in 1951SLSF Mail #25170' Streamline Mail/Baggage/Express Normandy built byPullman in 1947SLSF Coach/Lounge #165085'6" Streamline Coach/Lounge/ Buffet Sterling Pricebuilt by Pullman in 1948 forservice on the Texas SpecialSLSF Coach #125485' Streamline Coach Fergusonbuilt by Pullman in 1947SLSF Diner #155083' Streamline Diner/Lounge/Observation Tulsa built byPullman in 1948, squared offfor mid-train service by SLSF1960SLSF Sleeper #146585' Streamline Sleeper SpringRiver built by Pullman in 1948

Frisco Baggage/Express series 337-361 (355) as rebuilt by SLSF,Springfield, MO, April 13, 1951. Frisco photo

Frisco 1650 Texas Special Coach/Lounge/Buffet Sterling PricePullman builder photo, 1948.

Frisco 1254 Coach Ferguson. Date & location of photo unknown

Motive PowerE8 Diesel 2020 Big RedE8 Diesel 2012 Flying Ebony

ConsistSLSF Postal #204360'10" Postal built by ACF in1911SLSF Baggage #38574' Baggage/Express built byACF in 1925SLSF Baggage #38974' Baggage/Express built byACF in 1925SLSF Mail #25270' Streamline Mail/Baggage/Express Valley Park built byPullman in 1948SLSF Coach/Lounge #165185'6" Streamline Coach/Lounge/ Buffet Ladue built byPullman in 1947SLSF Coach #125685' Streamline Coach RichmondHeights built by Pullman in1947SLSF Diner #155183' Streamline Diner/Lounge/Observation Oklahoma Citybuilt by Pullman in 1948,squared off for mid-train serviceby SLSF 1960SLSF Sleeper #145285' Streamline Sleeper HenryShaw built for service on theTexas Special by Pullman in1948SLSF Business Car #3

Frisco Postal series 2037-2055 (2055), July, 1968, Newburg, MO.

Frisco 252 Mail/Baggage/ Express Valley Park,Pullman builder photo, 1947.

Frisco 1551 Diner/Lounge/Observation Oklahoma CityPullman builder photo, 1948.

May 1, 1963 Freight Train May 2, 1963Train 36 Train 31

Eastbound between Consists Westbound between

Oklahoma City & Tulsa, OK EDITOR'S NOTE: When available, Tulsa & Oklahoma City, OKF9Am 5007 F9B 5142 we are also listing selected freight train GP7L 509 GP7L 560

consist information. Because actualF9B 5146 F9B 5149 GP7L 514 GP7L 512car numbers are not available, we canF9Am 5005 only list motive power and number of 31 loads - 1 empty24 loads - 84 empties loads & empties.

Disaster At Cedar BluffMANGLED BODIES OF

FRISCO TRAIN CREWTAKEN FROM WRECK

Thus was the headlinein the July 19, 1918, edition ofthe Springfield Daily Leadernewspaper as it reported theJuly 18 wreck of Frisco Pas-senger train No. 105, the Kan-sas City-Florida Special, at CedarBluff cut near Fickinger, AR.

The southbound trainwas pulled by a Pacific class 4-6-2 locomotive, No. 1059, andincluded a mail car, baggage/express, coach/lounge (smoker)car, chair car, two sleepers,and an open platform obser-vation dining car.

According to the DailyLeader article, "The enginemen(Engineer & Fireman) werecarried to speedy death. Thetrain was making between 40and 50 miles per hour. Theforce was so great that boththe engine and coal tender werealmost buried in an embank-ment that was mainly rock andgravel. The baggage coach washurled probably 150 feet be-fore it struck the river.

"The track was clearedat 7 o'clock last night. About200 feet had been badly dam-aged so that it was necessaryto reconstruct the track beforeany attempt was made to re-place the derailed equipment.

"Reports from theSpringfield hospital of the Friscothis morning indicated that theinjured passengers and mem-bers of the train crew wereimproving and it is believed allwill recover...

"Passengers on the trainmade much of the assistancegiven by army officers who

happened to be on the wreckedtrain, and also army recruitswho were north-bound on aspecial train which met thederailed train at the scene ofthe accident.

"The foresight of one ofthe Frisco employes who hap-pened to be on the train is saidto have saved the troop trainfrom a long list of fatalities."

It was dark and misty at thetime No. 105 was derailed andthe train's lights were all out.To secure a light, train crewand passengers who were notinjured hastily secured wastefrom the journal boxes of thecoaches and set it on fire.

"One member of the crewwas hurriedly dispatched witha handful of the blazing waste

to warn the approaching trooptrain. He was just in time toprevent a second and prob-ably more serious accident.

"Major Welch, of Dockery,Miss, and Lieutenant E. B. Ryderand wife of Camp Cody, Wyo.,merited great praise for theheroic efforts they made to relieveother injured passengers. Allthree were on the wrecked trainand were slightly injured. Bothare skilled in first aid and areunderstood to have been withthe medical corps of the army.Mrs. Ryder, after recoveringfrom a nervous shock, hastilydonned her clothing and wentto the front of the train wherethe dead and injured were be-ing removed from the demol-ished cars. In making ban-dages for the persons who were

cut by glass and broken tim-bers, she tore her underskirtto strips.

"The most seriously in-jured were placed in the Pull-man berths of the two coachesthat remained on the track.The less seriously injured wereplaced aboard the troop trainand hurried to Memphis. Themore seriously injured werebrought to the Frisco employes'hospital here (Springfield)."

Frank Amsler was a mailclerk on the train and suffereda permanent left shoulder in-jury in the wreck. Knowingthat news of the accident wouldquickly be reported in the lo-cal newspaper, he sent thetelegram shown on the follow-ing page to his wife, assuringher that he was all right.

This was the mail car that Mr. Amsler was working in at the time of the wreck