Frisco West Shops
Springfield, MO

FRISCO ANNOUNCES $5,000,000 PROGRAM for SPRINGFIELD

The Arnold Engineering and Construction Company of Chicago got the contract to construct West Shops in 1907. The Frisco West Shops first opened on July 5, 1909. They were located a couple of miles west of the steam locomotive service facility of the North Shops. When built the Power House delivered both AC and DC electricity to the shop buildings. This occured before the city of Springfield had wide spread electricity. The power house was easily spotted by the 217 ft. tall concrete smokestack. There was also a 150 ft. tall water tower. In the 1930s the erection shop rebuilt three 1019-class Pacific type of locomotives with streamlining for the new Firefly service from Kansas City to Oklahoma City. The coach shops rebuilt some heavy weight cars for this service. Late in the 1930s the erection shops also rebuilt 34 of the spot-class of 2-10-2s into 11 of the 4300-class and 23 of the 4400-class Mountain locomotives. Ten of the 1060-class Pacifics were converted into 4-6-4 Hudsons. Several of the Hudsons, a couple of the Pacifics, and some of the 1500-class Mountains received streamlining in these shops. During WWII the coach shop converted several coaches into "soldier diners". In the late 1940s, some of these diners were converted into business cars. In the streamlined era, the 2 Meteor round-end diner-lounge-obs were squared off and the two Meteor dorm-coach combines were converted into coaches. Though the 1948 diesel shops are gone, these shops will celebrate their centennial in 2009.

Key: 1. Mainline to Oklahoma City 2. “High Line” to Kansas City 3. Paint shop 4. Coach shop 5. unknown 6. Machine and erection shop 7. Boiler shop 8. Power house, smoke stack and water tower 9. Store house 10. Forge shop 11. unknown 12. Classification yard 13. Future site of diesel shop 14. Transfer table 15. Mainline to St. Louis 16. Stock yards 17. Tie creosoting yard 18. 1928 truck shop.

SPRINGFIELD, MO — From the North Kansas Expressway viaduct, you can see the remains of a different era crumbling to the ground.

Rusted train tracks and piles of rubble litter the ground near the rail yards. The debris once made up the economic engine of Springfield: the Frisco Railroad Shops. The car shops, the last remaining large buildings of a once-massive complex, are being torn down. Historians say the facility built train cars, and helped build the city.

“At its height, the railroad had over 4,000 employees working in Springfield,” said John Sellars, curator of the History Museum of Springfield-Greene County.

One of the many employees of the shops complex over the years was Jerry Stewart. He toiled away in the neighboring Diesel Locomotive Shop.

“I went to work there when I got out of the Navy in 1970. Dad worked for the railroad and dad and got me on. I had a lot of hard times there. It was a good place to work, but it was hot and heavy," said Stewart.

Stewart says working for the Frisco Railway was like being a part of a family. That family began to break up during a series of railroad mergers that weren't so kind to the city. In 1980, the Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad. The BN slowly began downgrading its newly acquired facilities in Springfield, including the former Frisco headquarters operation. In 1995 the BN merged with the Santa Fe Railway to create the current BNSF.

The Springfield Diesel Shops closed in 1996 as the new company sought to eliminate duplicate operations across its system. Hundreds walked home with a pink slip, while others were offered transfers to other BNSF hubs, such as Topeka, Kan.

The car repair shops chugged on under the auspices of Trinity Railcar until 2008, before it shuttered due to the rough economy and an accompanying decline in rail traffic. BNSF decided there is not a market to lease the shops again, and the vacant buildings have become a liability for the company.

“We're demolishing three car shop buildings that have been up from the 1920s (from what I understand), and should wrap up in the next couple of weeks," said Andy Williams, a spokesman for BNSF, in a telephone interview.

Ironically, more trains than ever are rolling through Springfield these days.

“We still have over 800 employees in Springfield, so Springfield remains a very important and critical part in our rail network,” said Williams.

Furthermore, he said, 3,400 people are employees of the railroad’s “Springfield Division” that extends through the Ozarks on lines to St. Louis, Memphis, Kansas City, and Tulsa.

Still, reminders of the "old days" will soon be found only in pictures and memories.

In response to the demolition of the car shops, Jerry Stewart said, it’s “very sad. Being an old railroader, and [from] a railroad family, you hate to see it die.”

Williams says the train yards themselves, where freight cars are put together to form trains, will remain in operation. The locomotive fueling facility will also continue servicing the many trains that ply the rails through town each day. The railroad says, if the economy improves, it could end up increasing its presence and job numbers in Springfield. However, Williams said, that’s simply a “possibility” and not a set plan.