I had the opportunity to stop and take a look at Frisco 1527 the other day in Mobile Alabama, As often as I have been through Mobile, never took the time to locate this engine and see how "park life" was treating it. Thought the forum might be interested in seeing the current condition of this engine. Looks as if the locomotive has been well taken care of ( I am not sure who the actually owner of it is, as its quite a distance from downtown Mobile ), and the display was reasonably well kept and in relatively good order. Only downside to it ... ( in my opinion ) is the red paint, the broken outdoor ground lighting that originally lit the locomotive at night, and lack of any identification on the display ( therefore leaving the visitor with the question of .. what is it ?... how old is it ?.. why is it here ? etc .. Older photographs of the engine at night, showed the headlight on, class lights on etc etc. Would be nice to see that return..

However .. overall an attractive locomotive, well maintained by what I would suspect is a city agency ?. ( or perhaps someone knows more ) .

Perhaps a few on this forum can speak to the condition of the other remaining 5 Frisco Mountains... Does anyone know what year the Frisco donated this locomotive to the City of Mobile ?

( below is some additional information )

The St. Louis - San Francisco Railway bought a total of thirty 4-8-2s from the Baldwin Locomotive Works to be used in passenger service. Fifteen (road numbers 1500 through 1514) were delivered in 1923, five (road numbers 1515 through 1519) came in 1925 and the final ten (road numbers 1520 through 1529) arrived in 1926.

There are six surviving SLSF "Mountains".
1501 at a city park in Rolla, MO
1519 at the Railroad Museum of Northwest Oklahoma in Enid, OK
1522 at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO
1526 at the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, OK
1527 at Spring Hill Park in Mobile, AL
1529 at Frisco Park in Amory, MS

thanks for any additional information


Dean Levin

Very similar to the P-2 class Mountains of the Great Northern - also built by Baldwin during the same time period.

I notice the jacket is in place. I assume that any asbestos was removed and a new jacket made.

While I agree that the red paint is a bit much, at least it helps stave off the rust and lets people know someone cares enough to keep it up.

a few more photographs. Anyone have a current / recent photograph of any of the other surviving 5 locomotives ?


Dean Levin

1527, along with 1501,1522 and 1526 were cosmetically restored in their Lindenwood (St. Louis) roundhouse.
They removed lagging and tacked some bands around the boiler on standoffs the same thickness as the lagging. On 1522, they installed new galvanized jacketing. This eliminates the need for Homeland Security, the EPA and the Swiss Army wrapping it in whatever, and also makes a lot less mess from water soaked into the lagging. It doesn't necessarily stop corrosion on the shell and sleeves, but it sure slows it down.
I applaud the paint, but for God's sake why do the do things like that to embarrass the poor thing? Some of the group on Frisco.org was threatening to find out who to talk to to let them paint it correctly. It certainly didn't leave Lindenwood looking like that.

Red drivers-- very european looking!

Dear Dean:
I list it as having been donated to the City of Mobile in 1964. Does anyone know what month? (still trying to fill in "blank spaces")...
J.David

thanks for sharing. she looks really good for a park engine. How is the cab interior? are the gauges still in place, or has it bn vandilized? While the red drivers, white boiler front, and white side rods I have seen on other engines look way out of place, at least she's getting cared for.

Does anyone know what Frisco official was responsible for the donation of locomotives? I saw the engine in Pensacola, and it had been similarly abated before donation. Also, it was equipped with stamped metal tags telling what the various parts, such as main rod and air compressor, were. I'm told that was fairly standard on donated Frisco power. I was very touched that someone, presumably in the mechanical department, would care so much about these engines to go to these lengths to preserve and interperate them. Any guesses? Is there a collection of Frisco archives still in existance? Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
-Chris

J. David -

This brings up an interesting question; is the donation date in your books the announced date of the donation by the railroad or organization OR the date is was actually placed in the park or museum or wherever? In the case of SLSF 1527, a photo of the 4-8-2 is in Lloyd E. Stagner's "Steam Locomotives of the Frisco Line" book showing it at Lindenwood on November 24, 1964 after it had been restored and was "awaiting movement to Mobile". If the donation date is PLACEMENT date, it hardly seems possible that it occurred prior to December of that year.

Les

Les.

thats an interesting observation. I always wondered what procedures were in place when such an engine got donated to a city. ( care,financial responsibilities,liability ) etc etc. Did the town request such an engine, or did the railroad offer it to a particular city ? In addition, I wonder how the average town perceives such an item today ?.. in other words.. how does the city of Mobile Alabama view this locomotive ?... Who maintains it ? ( say a local NRHS chapter, or a guy from a recreational department ? ) .. I realize every city is different... however with steam gone from most railroads for over 50 years... are objects such as this ( and others ) desired by their municipality .. or just a headache ?

( here is a picture of the 1527 back in 1936 )


Dean Levin

Frisco 4-8-2 number 1501, on display in Rolla, Missouri is in pretty good shape as well. It is now under cover. While the paint is a bit faded, and items like the cab windows are rotten, the overall condition of the locomotive is very good. It is coupled to a wood body, steel sheethed 60' open platform passenger car, also of Frisco origins.

I had an opportunity to inspect both up close this past October. My wife is from Rolla, and we were married there on October 17. My wife arranged with the Rolla Parks Department for a key to get inside the fence, so a few wedding photos could be taken with the locomotive.

Of note, the bell is missing. There is a university in town, and I'd bet that it ended up in a fraternity house somewhere.