Meteor (St. Louis-San Francisco Railway)

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For other meanings of Meteor see Meteor (disambiguation)

The Herald of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

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. The name was shared with a branch line Meteor running between Monett, MO and Paris, TX. Later this line was truncated to terminate at Fort Smith, AR. These Frisco trains should not be confused with the Amtrak Silver Meteor.

Frisco locomotives No. 4500, 4501, and 4502, three of twenty-five Northern class Baldwin 4-8-4s built during for Frisco during WWII were 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 saw 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 diesel, No. 4500 was 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.

Engine no. 4501 resides at the Museum of the American Railroad and can be seen here. As of late 2007 there are plans to display the restored No. 4500 in Route 66 Station Park, which is being built in West Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The new streamlined, diesel equipped Meteor began westbound operations on May 14th, 1948 with its first eastbound train departing Oklahoma City on May 15th. 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.

[edit] 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. Here is a list of the named cars of the Meteor.

Car Name	No.	Railroad	Type	Made
Normandy	251	SLSF	Baggage, 30’ Mail	1947
Valley Park	252	SLSF	Baggage, 30’ Mail	1947
Manchester	1095	SLSF	34-seat Coach, Dormitory	1947
Maplewood	1096	SLSF	34-seat Coach, Dormitory	1947
Clayton	1253	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
Ferguson	1254	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
Kirkwood	1255	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
Richmond Heights	1256	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
University City	1257	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
Webster Groves	1258	SLSF	56-seat Coach	1947
Meramec River	1457	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Osage River	1458	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Gasconade River	1459	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Niangua River	1460	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
James River	1461	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Grand River	1462	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Canadian River	1463	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Neosho River	1464	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Spring River	1465	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Cimarron River	1466	SLSF	14 Roomette, 4 Bedroom Sleeper	1947
Tulsa	1550	SLSF	24-seat Diner, 18-seat Lounge, RE Observation	1947
Oklahoma City	1551	SLSF	24-seat Diner, 18-seat Lounge, RE Observation	1947
Ladue	1651	SLSF	26-seat Coach, Buffet, 25-seat Lounge	1947
Huntleigh	1652	SLSF	26-seat Coach, Buffet, 25-seat Lounge	1947
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] In popular culture

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.