DOWN AT THE DEPOT Original Frisco depot, Fayetteville, AR, circa. 1900. H.D. Connor Collection The St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas Railway Co. (of Ar- kansas) was incorporated. July 17, 1880. The company did not keep a set of general books, all of its transactions having been re- corded on the books of the St. Louis and San Francisco Rail- way Co. During its entire exist- ence, it was controlled by the latter. On June 10, 1881, this company consolidated with the St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas Railway Co. (of Missouri) and the Missouri, Arkansas, and South- ern Railway Co. to form a new company by the same name as the former. On that date, it owned about thirty-seven miles of standard gauge, single track railroad located entirely in Ar- kansas, extending from a point on the Missouri-Arkansas state line to Fayetteville. This prop- erty was constructed by the forces of the St. Louis and San Fran- cisco Railway Co. and by various independent contractors, be- tween September 1880, and June, 1891, and was placed in opera- tion on June 8, 1881, by the Frisco. According to our records the first permanent depot built at station 352 on this line was completed in 1898 at Fayetteville, AR. The brick and stone struc- ture was originally 162' long and 30' wide, and featured a general waiting room on the south end, large office, indoor restrooms and Negro waiting room in the center, and separate baggage and freight rooms on the north end. Sometime between 1910 and 1915, an 18' extension was added to the south end, increasing the size of the general waiting room and adding a news stand on the south west corner. The roof was a 1/3 pitch hip style covered with slate shingles. One of the most distinctive features of the building was the round agents bay with its cone shaped pinnacle roof design. The walls were 13" thick, inside walls finished in natural brick, and the floors were maple. Ceilings were 12'6" high. This unique depot, the only one of its kind on the Frisco, served the traveling needs of the Fayetteville community for over twenty five years. Fayetteville depot showing general waiting room and news stand extension. Frisco photo
Transcript
DOWN AT THE DEPOT
Original Frisco depot, Fayetteville, AR, circa. 1900. H.D. Connor Collection
The St. Louis, Arkansas,and Texas Railway Co. (of Ar-kansas) was incorporated. July 17,1880. The company did not keepa set of general books, all of itstransactions having been re-corded on the books of the St.Louis and San Francisco Rail-way Co. During its entire exist-ence, it was controlled by thelatter.
On June 10, 1881, thiscompany consolidated with theSt. Louis, Arkansas, and TexasRailway Co. (of Missouri) and theMissouri, Arkansas, and South-ern Railway Co. to form a newcompany by the same name asthe former. On that date, it ownedabout thirty-seven miles ofstandard gauge, single trackrailroad located entirely in Ar-kansas, extending from a pointon the Missouri-Arkansas stateline to Fayetteville. This prop-erty was constructed by the forcesof the St. Louis and San Fran-cisco Railway Co. and by variousindependent contractors, be-tween September 1880, and June,1891, and was placed in opera-tion on June 8, 1881, by the Frisco.
According to our recordsthe first permanent depot builtat station 352 on this line wascompleted in 1898 at Fayetteville,AR. The brick and stone struc-ture was originally 162' long and30' wide, and featured a generalwaiting room on the south end,large office, indoor restrooms
and Negro waiting room in thecenter, and separate baggage andfreight rooms on the north end.Sometime between 1910 and1915, an 18' extension was addedto the south end, increasing thesize of the general waiting roomand adding a news stand on the
south west corner. The roof was a1/3 pitch hip style covered withslate shingles.
One of the most distinctive
features of the building was theround agents bay with its coneshaped pinnacle roof design.
The walls were 13" thick,inside walls finished in naturalbrick, and the floors were maple.Ceilings were 12'6" high.
This unique depot, the only
one of its kind on the Frisco,served the traveling needs of theFayetteville community for overtwenty five years.
Fayetteville depot showing general waiting room and news standextension. Frisco photo
Fayetteville depot, showing round agents bay design.Frisco photo
In 1926, a new brick andstucco Spanish style facility wasbuilt to replace the original sta-tion. It was 143' long, 26' wide,and was divided into a generalwaiting room and news stand onthe south end, separate freightand ticket offices in the middle,Negro waiting room, baggageroom with raised platform on theeast side, and an express room onthe north end.
The roof was 1/3 pitch withtile shingles. The walls were 13"thick, finished on the inside withplaster and stucco. The waitingroom floors were wood coveredwith asbestolith, the offices wood,and the baggage and express roomfloors were concrete. Along theeast side of the building were awomen's lounge and toilets forboth Negro and white men andwomen. Lighting was electric andheat was provided by a steamboiler located in the adjacentfreight house. The platform wasbrick with a concrete curb.
It is interesting to notethat the Fayetteville depot wassimilar in design to two otherreplacement depots built aroundthe same time at Rolla andNeosho, MO.
In addition to the two de-pots, the Fayetteville facility alsoincluded a 114' x 20' freight sta-tion and FTC warehouse, locatedto the north of the depot, an autodock, and four 28' x 32' stock pens
with chutes for both single anddouble-deck stock cars. Fayett-eville was also designated as anemergency icing station.
Two miles south of thedepot at Fayette Junction (St.Paul Branch line) the facilitiesincluded a 40' 80 ton Fairbankstrack scale, a two-pocket 150 tonWilliams & White mechanicalcoal chute, a 50,000 gals. watertank, sand house, fuel oil pumphouse, and storeroom and ma-chine shop. The Williams & Whitecoal chute was later replaced witha Red Devil concrete coaler.
During their tenure ofservice, the Fayetteville depotswere served by a variety of pas-senger trains including trains 1& 7, daily through service be-tween St. Louis and Paris, TX inthe early 1900's. In 1910, fourdaily trains were available, Nos.3-4, 5-6, 11-12, & 720-721. By the1940's, service had been reducedto 709-710, daily, which contin-ued to serve the community up tothe 1960's. On September 18,1965, the last passenger traindeparted the depot, No. 710northbound, at 9:30 p.m. L:al
Fayetteville depot and freight station, looking north.
CENTRAL D I VISION FT SMITH SUBDIVISIONFAYETTEVILLE
In response to our feature on Songs of theFrisco, All Aboard, March-April, 1994, p.18, FriscoFolk Tom Moody sent us yet another Frisco tune.This one, All Aboard Frisco was written tocommemorate the arrival of the Frisco system toPensacola, FL, June 28, 1928.
I must tell you before it is too late,About the Frisco that came June twenty-eight.Pensacolians welcomed it with great delight,To think what it would mean to them o'er night.
CHORUSAll Aboard Frisco we are with you for all time.All Aboard Frisco our work will be for all mankind.Welcome to the Frisco a friendship never to fall,Hail to the Frisco President Kurn and all.
Businessmen from the north, south, east and west,Say our future will be the very best.How the horns did toot and shrill whistles did blow,The very thought made hearts with happiness glow.
President Kurn from his private car did step,Waking every ambition that had slept.We will never forget that all important date,Just mark the word great for this state.
Frisco Folk Rick McClellanshares with us an assortment ofmodeling tricks, tips, and neatthings to do that are relativelysimple, inexpensive, and quick,all of which can enhance the ap-pearance and operation of yourlayout.
Layout Fascia
Most model railroads arebuilt above 1" x 4" grid or "L"girder benchwork. Although somebenchwork and wiring is beauti-ful, we usually want to have allof the attention on the railroad.The focus on the railroad can bestbe achieved by applying a simplefascia to the benchwork. In ad-dition, the fascia can serve as asurface on which control panelscan be mounted.
The material used forfascia can vary, however, mostmodelers use 1/8" temperedMasonite. The advantages ofMasonite is that it is flexible forcornering, it is affordable, and ithas one very smooth surface forpainting. Other layouts usehardwood paneling for a morebuilt-in look. Unfortunately,paneling requires more cuttingsince it is not flexible for roundedcorners.
On the Springfield Ter-minal Division, Masonite cut in1' x 8' strips is used and is gluedto the 1" x 4" benchwork. I useda bead of construction adhesivebetween the fascia and thebenchwork with my wife, Jo,holding the fascia in positionwhile "clamps" were applied. Myclamps were drywall screws
driven through scrap 1" x 2" andthe Masonite and into thebenchwork. This holds the fas-cia in place until the glue is dry.The clamps are removed and theholes are filled with water puttyand sanded smooth.
Next, the location of anycutouts needed in the fascia aredetermined and cut out with ajigsaw. After making the neededopenings in the fascia, the finalstep is to paint the surface thecolor of your choice. Most mod-elers use a non-descript brownor green. The fascia on theSpringfield Terminal Division ispainted a buff color similar tothe one applied to modern Friscostructures in the 1970's. (see anunpainted but otherwise finishedsection of fascia in Figure 1)
If the clamping and glu-ing seems too time consuming,consider using screws with fin-ish type washers. These look justfine. I originally had these onthe Springfield Terminal Divisionbut had to remove them becauseof their similarity to the phonejack used in the command con-trol system. One disadvantage
of Masonite fascia is that it doesabsorb moisture and may "wave"in unsupported areas. This canbe remedied by either sealing allsurfaces of the Masonite withpaint or by gluing a 1" x 2" be-hind the Masonite to act as astiffener.
Once the fascia is in place,control panels can be prepared.I like to use 1/8" acrylic plasticfrom Cadillac Plastic of Lenexa.KS. It comes in a wide varietyof colors and can be cut to sizcfor reasonable prices (I bought 8'x 10" sections for $1.75 and 4" a6" sections for $ .75 which includedthe cutting) Two colors are usecon the Springfield Terminal Division, black for turnout contropanels and red for commamcontrol throttle jacks. The schematic needed for the turnoucontrol panels is marked on fibpaper covering and holes artdrilled using a sharp, pointed drilbit. Be sure that the plastic i:supported underneath or tillacrylic will fracture in an unpredictable manner. I have fountthat the best way to drill acryliis to clamp it to a piece of wood
and drill all the way through theplastic into the wood below. Thiswill leave a nice smooth hole.
After all the holes aredrilled, including the ones for themounting screws, the protectivepaper cover can be peeled backand the track schematic can beapplied using chart tape or autostriping tape. I noticed thatChuck Hitchcock used a vinallettering on his ATSF ArgentineDivision control panels and de-cided they would look good onthe Springfield Terminal Divisionas well. I found these at myHobby Lobby and they are inex-pensive (less than $2.00 per set,and easy to apply). This allowedme to letter panels with theirgeographic location (see Figures2 & 3) for additional realism andless operator confusion.
The command controlthrottle jacks are also mountedon a piece of red acrylic for easylocation during operation. I firstsaw this done on ChuckHitchcock's Argentine Divisionand saw it as a solution for mylayout as well (see Figure 4). Nowthere is no mistaking where thethrottle jacks are located on thelayout.
Before mounting theacrylic panels to the fascia, notethat it is too thin to hold themounting screws (I use 1" screws).This problem can be solved bygluing scrap 1" x 2" material be-hind the fascia close to the open-ing for the mounting screws tobe driven into.
The most surprising aspectof this project is how easy it is.Most modelers already possessmost of the tools needed and thematerials are simple and reason-ably priced. The impact on theappearance of the layout is tre-mendous.
Nice looking fascia will beas asset to the physical plant ofyour Frisco layout as well.
Customers will recognize this isa first class railroad and whenthey need rail service they willwithout question decide to ...
Frisco in the 90's is a photo feature of the All Aboard in which we showcase photos ofsurviving 1990's Frisco equipment & facilities as photographed by members of our Frisco Folks.
Have you seen a piece of "real" Frisco equipment or facility lately? Did you get a pictureof it? If so, please let us know and, if possible, send us a copy for publication.
Frisco Folk Dennis Sullivancaught SL-SF 44276 in service atSnyder, OK, on June 21, 1994.
Frisco Folk Dennis Sullivanfound Frisco Gondola69012 still in service atJoplin, MO, June 26, 1994.
Frisco Folk Dennis Sullivan photographed SL-SF 555658with load at Hugo, OK, June 19, 1994.
Frisco Folk Rick McClellan caught SL-SF 79767 in service at Lenexa,KS. in March. 1994.
Frisco Folk Rick McClellan found Frisco Flat 3705 still in service atSpringfield, MO, September 25, 1993.
Frisco Folk Rick McClellan photographed SL-SF 9104 at Olathe, KS,in March, 1994.
PENSACOLAAND THE GULF COASTFarmers, business men, investors, pleasureseekers --- come to this golden land ofpromise.
Here nature smiles on dairying, fruit rais-ing, gardening, grain growing, poultry rais-ing. Growing seasons are long. Wintersare mild. Harvests are bountiful. A bud-ding commerce prophesies increasing realestate values and prosperous towns.
And over all, the genial southern sun, inskies of glorious blue, welcomes the healthseeker and bids the pleasure lover play atfishing, swimming, boating, golf, on theincomparable gulf coast.
Come now - - new lives for old await youin this chosen country along the new ex-tension of the Frisco Lines to Pensacola.
Our back cover for this issue is taken from the back cover of the August, 1928, edition of the FriscoEmploye's Magazine, in which was announced the official arrival of the Frisco at Pensacola, FL.
