Steam & Excursion > How to spoil Frisco perfection

Back in 1949 the T&NO leased several of the Frisco's 1500 class 4-8-2s.
They couldn't stand perfection, so they had to do the silver smokebox front and number board routine  on them.   Sacrilege!
This was taken in Denison, TX in 1949.
I met an engineer on the Georgetown Loop who had retired and moved to CO from Denison.  He said there was no doubt when one of the 1500s left town with a freight.  Said the engine crews loved them.

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Nice looking engine. Great light and photography!

Was the silver on the valve cover a Frisco standard?

At one time, all of the 1500 class had nickle plated cylinder and valve covers.

Those modifications done by T&NO did give this engine a decidedly SPish look, not a bad thing in my book.  Still, the Frisco 1500s had a nice look in their own right....and the SP 4300s....well, I thought they had classic good looks.  Disclaimer....so did many of the steam engines of the time.  AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

They certainly didn't keep the engine in anything like Frisco condition, either, did they?

Maybe we take this too seriously.
Here is a locomotive that could either rust away on a dead line or be put to use with a few reversible modifications on another railroad.
I'll take a working locomotive over a preserved, pure, dead one any day.

Be thankful the T&NO didn't give them 3 digit number, too.

Brian Ehni