1.) Who owns the main lines that run through Springfield? BNSF right?
2.) Who owns the large railyard between Division and Kearney streets on the northwest side of town? BNSF again, right?
3.) How busy are the lines through town?
4.) Are there any good places to watch/photograph from, especially the yard?
5.) Historically has anyone onther than BN, SF, or BNSF owned these lines?
Thanks!
Mike
#5) SLSF (Frisco)
Mike, I’ve only been to Springfield once, so I can’t answer too much about traffic density.
What I can tell you is the Springfield was at one time the operating heart of the Frisco. The main lines through there are the best available routes from St. Louis to Tulsa, and from KC to Memphis.
I was taken to a park downtown which included an historic pedestrian bridge over a yard there. We caught one freight while we were there, but that’s only one leg of the “X”, and it wasn’t a major yard (lots of cars being stored, apparently).
I understand that the diesel shops on the western edge of town (maybe near the major yard) were recently demolished.
It would probably be worth the trip, and looks like it would be worth exploring for your favorite locations. As always, respect private property and be careful!
The tracks around Springfield were Frisco until the merger of 1980. Missouri Pacific had trackage rights into Springfield. Union Pacific sold the line from Arkansas to Kansas City where a branch ran into Springfield. This is the line that ran through Branson, Missouri.
The Frisco Depot was torn down many years ago. It was just a few blocks off the town square. I too, have heard that the diesel shops were torn down. I might be headed up there this next week and I will see for myself.
Springifeld was the " X " of the mainlines from Kansas City to Florida, and St. Louis to Dallas Fort Worth. While it was Frisco Springfield was a very busy place. Shortly after the merger Springfield became a ghost town as far as the railroad was concerned.
There have been several articles (at least one of them in Trains that have said the Frisco property has been mismanaged after the merger. Before the merger if you saw the second track in the yard it was rare. After the merger many times you could see all the way across the yard. It has become better in recent years as the old Frisco property is being more used.
Frisco was always known for running a very good railroad. They always maintained their locomotives and rolling stock. One of the reasons for the merger was Frisco’s bottom line and good credit rating.
One famous spot for train watching is Nichols Junction just west of town. The Frisco era buildings are now gone from that spot but still you can catch some action there. Nichols Junction is just off the old 66 highway.
One of the Frisco’s steam engines is in a city park just off Grant Street. It is a Northern type and there are some small motor cars around it. There is also a bi-level passenger car (Frisco never owned any of them) and a BN caboose. This is worth the time to see if you have time to do so.
the kansas expressway has a bridge over the yard where u can see the yard diesel shops and other shop buildings plus on the opposite side there is the loc inspection
theres an access road into the yard and has a sign pointing out where each building is located
tom
On the subject of Springfield, Mo. and the Frisco… There used to be an active fan club in Springfield and had a web site that was well done and informative, I think they even owned or rented a building that housed the club and its activities… Does anybody know if they are still active and if their web site is still operated?
Thanks,
Sam
It is the BNSF Springfield division you are speaking of. It has two main lines. One from St. Louis to Tulsa that continues to Dallas, and one from Kansas City to Birmingham. There is a lot of traffic on both lines. I live on the Cherokee Sub that runs from Springfield to Tulsa and there are around 20-30 trains a day. I understand the KC-BH line is just as busy. Take a scanner and you should hear the detectors talking to let you know when a train is on the line. I can hear three detectors from my house and they are constantly going off.
The yard is in the SW part of town, not very easy access if I remember right. In my experience yards are kinda boring, I like to railfan the 10 miles or so before or after a large yard. Dispatchers have their favorite spots for setting up meets. If the yard is “full” then they will “stage” them in the last few sidings before getting to the yard. In Tulsa you can count on finding a train at the East Tulsa siding more time than not either waiting for the main or waiting to enter the yard. The next two sidings East are good bets more than 50% of the time.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub
The December 2003 Trains has a nice article about the SLSF in Springfield in 1955, which has some good maps.
This PDF Division map has a Sprigfield map on the right
http://www.bnsf.com/tools/reference/division_maps/div_sf.pdf
If you join http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/ you can look at their current tonnage map, which is pretty good. It may take a day or two to become a member.
The heaviest used line is SE to Memphis and the lightest is NE to St. Louis, with both western lines in between
All traffic goes through town between Nichols on the west and Teed on the east.
Nichols-
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locThumbs.aspx?id=74646
Springfield-
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locThumbs.aspx?id=75601
Thanks, Dale;
That was the info I was looking for. [ http://www.frisco.org/ ].
Sam
Jan 1981 Trains has a very well written feature of the Frisco @ SPR.
Thanks for all the info so far guys! I was thinking this was probably old Frisco so good to know for sure. Sad to hear that the station and shops have been torn down though.
Mike R- know of anywhere I can get Springfield scanner frequencies?
Thanks again guys!
Mike
If that is the article I am thinking about it was titled, “24 Hours on the Frisco.” It helped show just how busy Frisco was.
I have that issue somewhere around the house.
Just a quick update on this topic:
Didn’t get to explore Springfield much as the weather in Blue Eye (the soon-to-be in-laws have a “cabin” on Table Rock Lake that is incidently bigger than my house in Illinois) was snowy and down there everything shuts down. Did get to see lots of action along 44 and 55 in St. Louis area as we drove through including lots of variety of paint schemes in the yard near Maplewood. Also lots of trains in East St. Louis too.
I have the BNSF Springfield Division 2002 timetable. I can post the freqs in this thread if that is what you are looking for. The Cherokee Sub (Springfield-Tulsa) is on 160.920, that on I know. You can do a google for South East Missouri scanner freqs if you are looking for police, fire etc.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub
Mike,
That would be great. I’m mostly interested in the rail frequencies.
Mike
I will get them together and post them in this thread.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub
Sorry it took so long to post, had to find the timetable.
Four BNSF Subdivisions converge at Springfield. Springfield is also a Division HDQ.
-Cuba Sub-St. Louis to Springfield–AAR Ch 70–161.160
—Springfield radio communications to Tower Yardmaster from road crew, or between yard and road crews within the terminal will be conducted on Channel 66 (161.100)only.
-Cherokee Sub-Springfield to Tulsa–AAR Ch 54–160.920
—Springfield radio communications to Tower Yardmaster from road crew, or between yard and road crews within the terminal will be conducted on Channel 66 (161.100)only.
-Ft. Scott Sub-Kansas City to Springfield–AAR Ch 82–161.340
—Springfield radio communications to Tower Yardmaster from road crew, or between yard and road crews within the terminal will be conducted on Channel 66 (161.100) only.
-Thayer North Sub-Springfield to Memphis–AAR Ch 70(161.160) MP203-MP206; AAR Ch 87 (161.415) MP206 South.
—Springfield radio communications to Tower Yardmaster from road crew, or between yard and road crews within the terminal will be conducted on Channel 66 (161.100)only.
As far as freqs in the yard or used on local jobs, I have all the AAR freqs in a seperate bank and scan them to determine the ones in use. My experience is the freqs in use in the yard are t