That Blind Hog Thing... 11/9/11 Options

[laming]

Remember me tellin' you how even a blind hog can root up an acorn every now and then?

Well... this blind hog did it again tonight!!!

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, my latest passion is the Fayetteville & Little Rock of the 1880's before it was purchased by the Frisco to become their St. Paul Branch. (See: http://www.3dtrains.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17794 )

I have a few photos on hand of the St. Paul Branch, but most of the pictures with depots show one of the "standard" depots that the Frisco begin implementing in the 1900's... later than my target era of 1889.

Ever searching via the internet, I turned up a very rare photo of Combs, Arkansas. Combs, Arkansas, was where the Frisco's St. Paul Branch eventually connected with the Black Mountain & Eastern. What makes this photo especially valuable to me, is that is NOT the "standard" depot at Combs that I already have a picture of. No, this is the ORIGINAL depot. This makes this a VERY important photo, for it helps me to visualize what types of depots were in place before the Frisco came through and standarized most of them on the St. Paul Branch. THIS is the "look" I would love to capture on a Fayetteville & Little Rock route effort!

Next up:

I found a picture of a "modernized" Frisco Baldwin of 1881 vintage. Though the picture is past the era that I'm currently dabbling in, it does help to put a "face" on the Frisco's original 700-715 Class 2-8-0's. I think it's a neat photo, nonetheless.

Sometimes being a blind hog ain't so bad!

Well, all for now.

[TheGrindre]

Sweet, very sweet, Andre. I like that station. It looks green to me. Do you happen to know the color of it?

[spud]

Until I realized the three guys with hats were standing on the handcar, closer to the camera, I thought "Now there are some big Dudes!"

[laming]

TheGrindre said:

I like that station. It looks green to me. Do you happen to know the color of it?

IF recorded anecdotes/recollections are accurate, the early Frisco stuff was painted an oxide red. Lots of railroad things were painted some shade of oxide red, waaaay back in the 1880's. The pictured Combs depot would have been built by the Frisco, for the Frisco purchased the F&LR and took over its construction from the end of track town of Powell (called "Patrick" a few years later) eastward. Since Combs is east of Powell, Combs would be a Frisco-constructed depot. I have yet to unearth ANY F&LR 1886-1887 era pictures that that include depots. Plus, those towns w/depots in them that I DO have are either towns reached after the Frisco purchase. OR, after the "standard" depot replacement binge of the 1900's. Towns that should have had F&LR built (original) depots would be: Fayette Jct, Baldwin, Harris, Elkins, Durham, Thompson, Crosses, Delaney and Powell. (Combs was 3 miles east of Powell.)

EDIT: The above "lack of information" brings with a blessing and a curse: A curse in that I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN/KNOW the actual history. A blessing in that: Since no one knows... I can build them the way I want to for the above towns!. However, I will stay within the realm of reality by referencing regional railroads.

Spud:

LOL! I see what you mean!

All:

Really, this just keeps gettin' better and better...

As mentioned in the "Route That Wasn't" thread, lately I've been going back through my F&LR/St. Paul Branch info. I am "rediscovering" lots of things that I haven't read or seen in years. For instance...

I have an old photocopy of a defunct northwest Arkansas newspaper "special insert" that was covering the history of the area railroads. There were a handful of pictures in the article, but of course, the old photocopiers we had decades ago didn't reproduce said photos very well. Thus, they are not very fine in detail. (Darn.) Anyway, via this article, I "rediscovered" that the original bridge over the White River just east of St. Paul was a Howe Truss bridge w/square ends... held up on timber cribbing piers! Talk about "character" and loaded with the 1880's "feel"! Looking forward to building a model of it if/when the time arrives!

Wow... there was SOOOO much more character, panache, and even (dare I say it?) "romance", in railroading "back then". I know, I know... actually being a railroader back then was extremely hard work and very dangerous... but... the "romance" of the era is undeniable.

It's good stuff, Maynard!!!