Friday Night Steam

All aboard for railroad history! 

 Museum in Grant Beach Park offers a glimpse of the bygone era of steam trains and railroading.

RAILROAD HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC.

 Springfield Missouri

SLSF 4524

The drive wheels of Frisco locomotive No. 4524 once propelled freight trains along the tracks between Springfield and St. Louis.

No. 4524 was retired by Frisco shop workers and dedicated to the city in 1953. News-Leader File Photo

Want to go? What: Railroad Historical Museum When: 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday; then 2 to 4 p.m. each Saturday through October, weather permitting; group tours available with reservations Where: Grant Beach Park, Grant Avenue and Lynn Street Admission: Free, but donations are appreciated Information: 882-9106 or 865-6829

By Gail Reynolds
For the News-Leader



Interested in tracking down a unique family adventure?

You can blow the whistle on a great find at the Railroad Historical Museum in Grant Beach Park. Adults and kids alike can blow off some steam as they re-visit the history of America's great train era through photographs, videos and paintings, artifacts, models and some hands-on activities.

Opening its season Saturday, the museum — housed inside a refurbished historic locomotive and three cars — has free public tours (weather permitting) each Saturday through October.
"We welcome everyone to come and enjoy the museum. There's a lot to see and a lot to learn — not only about trains, but about 50 years of American history," says Harlan Diehl, president of Railroad Historical Museum, Inc., the nonprofit organization that sponsors the museum.

"There are kids who don't understand what happened 50 years ago or know what coal is," he said. "Then, there are also a lot of adults, who while they have been on planes, have never been on a train."
Rosalind Hilderbrand of Springfield, whose father, Wilson E. Smith, was a locomotive engineer for Frisco for more than 30 years, experienced the railroad way of life firsthand and agrees that the museum is a great way to experience excitement of that era.
"As a child I grew up on the railroad. We took vacations on a train. My first club sandwich was on a train. I loved it and it was a great experience," Hilderbrand says.

"It's history — we don't have the railroad anymore that way. It was a different time. And if you like history, you'll enjoy the museum," she says of the Grant Beach Park display, to which her father donated an assortment of railroad memorabilia.

The museum, Diehl said, finds its roots in Frisco locomotive No. 4524 heading up the train. It was retired by shop personnel of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (one of Burlington Northern Santa Fe's predecessor lines) and dedicated to the city in 1953.

Built in 1943, the steam locomotive was one of the last put in regular freight service on the Frisco between Springfield and St. Louis. Inside No. 4524, ring the bell and check out the cab, Diehl says.
Next, in the Burlington Baggage Express Car No. 976100, visitors can view the 5-foot long steam locomotive model that was displayed in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair; safety trophies; and more than 200 railroad paintings.

In the Chicago and Northwestern Commuter Car No. 2, guests can browse a collection of 150 train photographs; visit the upstairs, and take in a series of railroad videos and a model railroad layout.
Shoring up the rear is Burlington Northern Caboose No. 10768, where visitors can check out pictures of railroad stations, cabooses, freight cars and yards and the cupola.