30 years ago today the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway passed into history as the Burlington Northern assumed control of this historic line. I admit when I go up to Afton, OK to visit Dad's grave, I like seeing doublestacks and coalies rolling thru, as well as the manifest freights, but I miss seeing those Mandarin orange & white GP40-2s leading train 33 (a/k/a the Texas Special) racing thru town at 60 per heading towards Tulsa; the predawn stillness being shattered as the QLA splits the town apart; seeing Santa Fe, SCL, and Southern engines on run-through freights; the locals stopping to switch the local Co-Op; and the friendly agent at the depot. The first cab ride I ever got was on a Frisco local in Ft. Smith, AR one night after the model RR club meeting (on GP15-1 100), and I was standing on the rear walkway with the brakemen shooting the bull as we ambled south of the yard with the KCS interchange cut. Large parts of the Frisco still exist as part of the vast BNSF network; some have passed into the hands of shortline operators (Grainbelt, Kiamichi, Arkansas & Missouri, Alabama Great Eastern, for example), and some have been taken up (the entire QA&P, the Ft. Smith-Antlers, OK line, most of the Pierce City, MO-Ellsworth, KS line) entirely. But still, the railroad lives on in the memory of those who worked on it, railfanned it, and/or model it. Organizations such as the Frisco webpage carry on the history of the railroad, both real and model. Cabooses, depots, steam locomotives and other assorted equipment are on display here & there. The model railroad manufacturers have come out with great models of Frisco locomotives and rolling stock. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
What will soon be gone are all the great SLSF railroaders that continued on under BN. I always thought that BN wanted SLSF because of its great people who could get trains over the road. I attended the QAP reunion last March, and it was almost sad because of the lack of people left to attend. There will come a day when no more Frisco people will be marking up anywhere.
My grandfather was an engineer on the old Frisco line in Missouri, way back when. He retired in 1935 after a long career with the railroad. The last entry he made in his journal was : "God Bless The Frisco!".
