Meteor (train)

The Meteor in 1909.
The Meteor 4500 moved to its permanent position in Tulsa, OK.
The Meteor at left, with the Texas Special as diesel equipped trains and new colors.

The Meteor was a named passenger train operated by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (a.k.a. SLSF or "the Frisco"). It ran overnight between Oklahoma City and St. Louis via Tulsa and was later extended to Lawton, Oklahoma on July 18, 1955. The name was shared with a branch line Meteor running between Monett, Missouri, and Paris, Texas. Later this line was truncated to terminate at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The Meteor began early in the 20th Century; one engineer who joined the Frisco in 1917 recalled that the Meteor was already a well-known train at that time.[1] Initially the trains were pulled by Frisco-class 1300 locomotives, being high-wheeled Baldwin engines with 2-8-0 wheel arrangements.[2] During the late 1930s and into the early years of World War II, Frisco-class 1500 Baldwin engines with 4-8-2 wheel arrangements took over the job.[3]

Frisco-class 4500 locomotives, and specifically locomotives No. 4500, 4501 and 4502, being three of twenty-five Northern class Baldwin 4-8-4s built for Frisco during World War II, were later designated for use on the Meteor. These locomotives were delivered in a distinctive zephyr blue, white and gray paint scheme with "Meteor" spelled out across the tender in bold red lettering. These three passenger engines also saw service pulling the Texas Special. In 1948, Frisco 4501 still in its Meteor livery pulled President Harry S. Truman's whistle stop tour train through his home state of Missouri.

When the Meteor was converted to use diesel locomotives, No. 4500 was re-painted into Frisco's standard black with gold striping and lettering and assigned to passenger trains such as the General Wood and the Will Rogers. The cosmetically-restored Engine No. 4500, back in its Meteor paint scheme, now resides at the Route 66 Historical Village[4] in Tulsa, OK.[5] Engine No. 4501 resides at the Museum of the American Railroad, in Frisco, Texas.[6]

The streamlined, diesel equipped Meteor began westbound operations on May 14, 1948, with its first eastbound train departing Oklahoma City on May 15. At the end of its maiden trip the president of the Frisco, while giving an interview in his private railcar attached to the train, pointed to a glass filled nearly to the brim with water. "Not a drop spilled between St. Louis and Tulsa," he said proudly.[7] Frisco purchased the EMD E7 locomotives and Pullman cars for the Meteor at the same time as they purchased ones for the Texas Special, so the two trains shared a distinctive look; bright red with corrugated aluminum side panels. Frisco bought sets of named cars for each train.

Named cars

Named trains frequently had named cars; the Frisco named Meteor cars after cities and rivers. Not all cars may have been named, but the ones that were bore their names prominently on their side panels.

Cars used on the Meteor
Car name No. Railroad Type Made Notes
Normandy251SLSFcombination baggage, 30 ft (9.1 m) mail1947 
Valley Park252SLSFbaggage, 30 ft mail1947 
Manchester1095SLSF34-seat coach, dormitory1947 
Maplewood1096SLSF34-seat coach, dormitory1947 
Clayton1253SLSF56-seat coach1947 
Ferguson1254SLSF56-seat coach1947 
Kirkwood1255SLSF56-seat coach1947 
Richmond Heights1256SLSF56-seat coach1947 
University City1257SLSF56-seat coach1947 
Webster Groves1258SLSF56-seat coach1947 
Meramec River1457SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Osage River1458SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Gasconade River1459SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Niangua River1460SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
James River1461SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Grand River1462SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Canadian River1463SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Neosho River1464SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Spring River1465SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Cimarron River1466SLSF14 roomette, 4 bedroom sleeper1947 
Tulsa1550SLSF24-seat diner, 18-seat lounge, observation1947 
Oklahoma City1551SLSF24-seat diner, 18-seat lounge, observation1947 
Ladue1651SLSF26-seat coach, buffet, 25-seat lounge1947 
Huntleigh1652SLSF26-seat coach, buffet, 25-seat lounge1947 

Models of the Meteor

  • Hallmark Models, Inc., a model train manufacturer has produced brass E7 diesels and corrugated passenger cars in red and silver without lettering, so that modelers can customize them for either a Meteor or Texas Special train.

References

  1. ↑ Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15.
  2. ↑ Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15. More precisely, 2-8-0s were Frisco-class 1306 engines, not to be confused with the Frisco-class 1350 locomotives which were 2-8-0s converted by Frisco to 2-8-2s in the WWII timeframe. See http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/?page=slsf, Retrieved 6-11-15.
  3. ↑ Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15.
  4. ↑ "Route 66 Village website". Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  5. ↑ ""Route 66 Village advocates seeking fee waiver", February 23, 2012". The Tulsa World. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Museum of the American Railroad website". Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  7. ↑ Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15.
  • Condren, Mike (December 31, 2002). "Frisco-Katy Streamlined Passenger Equipment". Christian Brothers University. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
  • "Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western No. 63". SteamLocomotive.info. Carstens Publications. 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
  • "St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company ("Frisco") 4501". Museum of the American Railroad. Retrieved June 19, 2015.


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