Morning all, I was wondering about the FRISCO RR.As a child I remember the FRISCO running through this part of Okla, and was wondering what happened, did they merg with another RR or just disappar? Any info would be appriciated ie… years, what kind of locos, rolling stock were used? I guess they ran around here in the mid to late 60’s. Anyone here want to come and rescue Mike? Thanks, Mike
Hi Mike, I’ll start things off by saying that Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern around 1980. I’m sure there are others here who can give you a lot more detail and links to places like historical societies etc.
The Frisco was officially the Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway and was merged into the Burlington Northern Railway in 1980. The SLSF never got to the Frisco of its name but it got to Pensacola, Florida.
I remember seeing that there is a Frisco modelers group and they are quite active with a substantial membership; these railroad modelers are very prominent in your neck of the woods.
The Frisco was mergered int the Burlington Northern, 1980
I forget the exact date March 1? The Frisco ran from St. Louis to Dallas
& Kansas City to Memphis & Birmingham, shaped like a letter X where the
two lines crossed was Springfield Mo, the operating hub. In OK the lines ran
from Tulsa to Enid & Avard, And from Tulsa to OKC & Altus terminating at
Floydada in the Texas panhandle. They ran the Texas Special with the Katy.
For motive power 45 SD45’s; 25 GP40-2, 140 GP38’s &-2.
Also an assortment of 71 GE’s among them the first production U25B.
the last U25B, first U30B, & first B30-7.
Sorry to ramble but somebody finally asked a question about something I know.
I believe the technical terminology is the Frisco was acquired by Burlington Northern since a merger indicates two previously existing entities combining to form one new entity.
The Frisco acquisition made the BN the first ‘transcontinental’ railroad in that a BN train could travel from Seattle WA to, I believe, Pensacola, FL without leaving BN trackage nor having to rely on trackage rights over another road.
There are various websites devoted to the Frisco covering their history, areas of operation and operating equipment.
You are right there, FloridaPanhandler: ‘acquisition’ is probably a much better word under this circumstance than ‘merger’. Frisco was a highly coveted property and BN scooped it up from right under UP’s nose prompting - and perhaps forcing - UP to go after MP which they did two years later and Katy a few years after that. For awhile this SLSF acquisition made BN the largest railroad in the country.
SLSF was the partner with ATSF in the building of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in the early 1880s; only the line from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Needles, California, however, was ever built; the eastern division of the A&P, building west from Springfield, Missouri, died aborning when SLSF got tangled up in Jay Gould’s Texas Railroad Politics and went belly-up in the late 1880s-early 1890s.
Thanks for all the useful info, that is something I wanted to hear. I model mainly BN in the mid to late 70’s so I would be right in time and place to have some FRICSO locos and rolling stock (if I can find them) on my line, I also have some ATSF that I run with the BN. I am wanting to get a BNSF loco just for the fun and I like the colors. Thanks again. Mike
PS. When did ATSF merg with BN?