Frisco Silver Dollar Line
The Frisco Silver Dollar Line is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, Missouri. The railroad opened in 1962, making it one of the oldest operating rides at Silver Dollar City.[1] It is themed after American railways in the 1800s. The ride includes an 1800s themed train depot, a water tower, a trestle overpass bridge, a train wreck scene, a staged train robbery, a tunnel, a rectangular shaped roundhouse and an at-grade railroad crossing. It consists of a total of seven steam locomotives, with five of them in operating condition. In 2022, the railroad will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in operation.
One of the five operational steam locomotives of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line | |
Overview | |
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Locale | Silver Dollar City Amusement Park, Branson, Missouri |
Dates of operation | 1962–present |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 2 ft (610 mm) |
Length | Over 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Other | |
Website | www |
In the middle of the ride, guests experience a show where uneducated train robbers try their best to rob the train, but guests are saved just in time by the conductor, who was tricked into searching for "Yankees" or "Indians." Recently, the conductor may be tricked into checking to see whether or not the tunnel down the line was blown up. During the Old Time Christmas festival at the park, the train is decked-out in lights and becomes the "Frisco Sing-Along Steam Train". During this time, the train robber act is replaced by Grandpa telling the Christmas story.
Locomotives
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The Frisco Silver Dollar Line consists of a total of seven steam engines. Currently, five are in operating condition, but as of 2019, four of them are currently in active service. All five of them fire on No. 2 diesel fuel as their fuel source. They are 610 mm (2 foot) narrow-gauge steam locomotives.[2][3]
Engine #7
Engine #7 was built by Orenstein & Koppel (O&K) in Hamburg, Germany in 1934. It is an 0-4-0T type that is currently on display as in the train wreck scene, which is also known as the "Wreck of Old Engine 82". It poses as "Old Engine 82" in the fictional story of Ichabod Q. Peabody as he took said engine around a tight curve with a speed limit of 2.3 mph at the raging, blazing speed of 11.7 mph. The train jumped the tracks and crashed into the trees. Nobody was hurt and they sobered up Ichabod and got him running the train again.
Engine #9 "Davenport Locomotive"
The Davenport is the original steam locomotive of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by the Davenport Locomotive Works in Davenport, Iowa in 1922. It was originally numbered 76 and it was the only engine on the line for about 8 years. It is a 4-4-2 type tender engine. While it is unknown the official current number (76 is the number of a different engine now), some people refer to it as "#9" or more commonly, the "Davenport". It was put on display after its retirement from service up until late 2008 when it was moved to the rail yard outside of the engine roundhouse. As of 2017, it has been repainted and is currently sitting at the Depot on display. Whether or not it will run again is currently uncertain.
Engine #43
Engine #43 is currently the smallest and oldest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Orenstein & Koppel in Hamburg, Germany in 1934. #43 is the "sister" engine to #7, simply meaning that both were built by the same manufacturer of the same year and of the same model. #43 weighs about 11 tons and is exactly 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches in length from pilot to coupler. #43's cab is about 4 feet wide. The operating pressure is about 135 lbs. #43 was sold to Silver Dollar City in the 1960s. It is on many brochures and billboards and other advertisements and has become one of the most popular and iconic engines of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. #43 operated as a 2-4-0T type from the 1962 to 2018, but in early 2019, its pilot wheels were removed, so it is an 0-4-0T type again.
Engine #13
Engine #13 is currently the largest and second oldest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Orenstein & Koppel in Hamburg, Germany in 1938. #13 weighs about 20 tons and is exactly 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches in length from pilot to coupler. #13's cab is between 5 1/2 and 6 feet wide. The operating pressure is about 145 lbs. #13 was sold to Silver Dollar City in the 1960s. It is probably the engine that runs the most on the line. #13 seems to have pretty strong endurance especially for an engine as old as it is. #13 started off with a "taper" shaped smoke stack meaning it was mostly straight but SLIGHTLY angled outward like a slight "V". It then had a diamond stack for a long while and eventually had a "funnel" shaped stack like #43's stack. #13 eventually got a smoke stack of its own. The particular type of stack is called "Radley and Hunter" which is shaped like an incongruent octagon. This particular stack had a "tin" sound and started trapping some of the smoke and exhaust inside the stack. The original taper stack was put back on in 2011 and has helped #13 sound more powerful than before. As of early 2018, #13 has been taken out of service and is currently awaiting a massive overhaul in the distant future. Some of its parts, most notably its bell, is currently being used on its recently restored sister engine #14. #13 operated as a 2-4-0T type from 1962 to early 2017, but once its overhaul takes place, it will be transformed back into an 0-4-0T type again.
Engine #76
Engine #76 is currently the second youngest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Ceskomoravska Kolben-Danek in Czechoslovakia in 1940. #76 weighs about 13.75 tons and is exactly 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches in length from pilot to coupler. #76's cab is about 5 feet wide. The operating pressure is 160 lbs. She can keep a good amount of steam in the boiler to usually steams at or around 160 lbs. #76 was sold to Silver Dollar City in the 1980s. It seems to be very popular along Frisco Silver Dollar Line fans over the years. Two things that have stood out a lot to the community are the diamond-shaped smokestack and the use of a Western Locomotive Supply Southern 3 chime steam whistle. What is unique about that particular whistle is that it is made of steel as opposed to brass or cast iron. In early 2014, #76 went into a massive overhaul to make many changes and to replace the boiler. On November 7, 2015, #76 ran trains for the first time since the rebuild and also started off the 2015 season of Silver Dollar City's Old Time Christmas. #76 operated as a 2-4-0T type from the 1980s to 2018, but before Silver Dollar City's Opening Day of 2019, they transformed it back to an 0-4-0T type wheel arrangement by removing its pilot wheels.
Engine #504
Engine #504 is currently the youngest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Ceskomoravska Kolben-Danek in Czechoslovakia in 1941. It is probably the same design as #76. It is an 0-4-0T type that was converted into a tender engine in the 1970s. It is currently the only operating locomotive on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line with a tender. The Davenport locomotive is the other engine with a tender, but is not in operating condition. In 2016, Silver Dollar City made purchases from an estate called the Northfield & Cannon Valley Railroad in Northfield, Minnesota. Those purchases were #504, a German tank engine originally numbered 2, which would be restored and renumbered to #14 to work on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line, and #2825, a little Plymouth 24" Switching Diesel engine. #504 began restoration to operating condition at Silver Dollar City. It was also converted from burning wood to burning oil and would be heavily Americanized. #504 made her first test runs in February 2018 and she made her official debut to the public on June 18, 2018. Since then, #504 quickly became one of the most popular engines working on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line behind both #76 and #43. However, as of October 2020, #504 is temporarily out of service while it currently undergoes some major improvements to its operations.
Engine #14
Engine #14 is currently the second largest and third oldest/youngest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Orenstein & Koppel in Hamburg, Germany in 1938 after her twin sister, #13. She steams at about 150 lbs. They both originally worked for a rock quarry in Germany as #1 and #2. In the 1960s, #1 was sold to an amusement park in the US called Silver Dollar City. It was renumbered to #13 and ran trains up until early 2017 and then being taken out of service in early 2018 awaiting a massive overhaul in the distant future. #2 worked at the quarry until the 1970s when it was sold to the original owner of #504, Jim Machacek, for his Northfield & Cannon Valley Railroad in Northfield, Minnesota. He passed away in 2012, and in 2016, both locomotives were sold to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. #504 retained its original number and #2 was renumbered to #14 to work on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line, as it is the younger twin of engine #13. #14 has been restored to operating condition and she made her official debut to the public on March 20, 2019. #14 is heavily Americanized with an 1880s style look. It is an 0-4-0T type just like all of the other engines. She weighs about 14 tons and is 13 feet tall.
Engine #2825
Engine #2825 is currently the roundhouse switching engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by the Plymouth Locomotive Works between the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is a little Plymouth 24" Switching Diesel engine. It was first sold to Jim Machacek for his Northfield & Cannon Valley Railroad, an estate in Northfield, Minnesota, in the 1970s. After his passing in 2012, it was sold to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri in 2016 along with two steam engines, #504 and #2, which would be renumbered to #14 to work on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It is used by the Frisco Silver Dollar Line for moving engines and empty coaches in the engine roundhouse and railyard. The engine is also used for track work and maintenance.
Frisco’s Involvement
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, also commonly known as the “Frisco”, was a standard-gauge railroad which operated in the general area. It supplied construction help to the park, along with the rails and ties, back when this line was being built in 1962. Perhaps for these reasons, the trains sport the Frisco name and logo. However, this was never an actual Frisco rail line and the steam locomotives were never actual rolling stock on the Frisco.[4]
See also
References
- Branson's Best Day Trips: A Guide to Discovering the Best of Branson & Ozark Mountain Country, p. 80
- http://www.startribune.com/steam-engines-that-gave-children-rides-sold-to-theme-park/380374971/
- http://sdcfans.com/sdc-purchases-additional-steam-trains/
- "All Aboard--Silver Dollar City Boasts Historic Steam Locomotives, Romantic Ride on the Rails". Laurinda Joenks, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2020.