Meteor (train)

Not to be confused with the Silver Meteor.

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Meteor

The Meteor at left, with the Texas Special as diesel equipped trains and new colors.

Overview
Service type| Inter-city rail
Status| Discontinued
Locale| Midwestern United States/Southwestern United States
First service| 1902
Last service| 1965
Former operator(s)| St. Louis – San Francisco Railway
Route
Termini| St. Louis, Missouri
Lawton, Oklahoma
Distance travelled| 631.5 miles (1,016.3 km) (St. Louis-Lawton, 1959)
Service frequency| Daily
Train number(s)| 9 (southwest-bound), 10 (northeast-bound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements| Reclining chair car
Sleeping arrangements| Roomettes and double bedrooms
Catering facilities| Chair-lounge-buffet car; diner-lounge car (1959)
| Route map

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Legend

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|  | St. Louis Union Station

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|  | Tower Grove
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|  | Webster Groves
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|  | Rolla
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|  | Newburg
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|  | Lebanon
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|  | Springfield
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|  | Aurora
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|  | Monett
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|  | Neosho
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| Missouri

Oklahoma

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|  | Afton
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|  | Vinita
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|  | Chelsea
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|  | Claremore
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|  | Tulsa
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|  | Sapulpa
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|  | Bristow
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|  | Chandler
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|  | Oklahoma City
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|  | Wheatland
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|  | Mustang
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|  | Tuttle
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|  | Amber
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|  | Chickasha
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|  | Norge
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|  | Laverty
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|  | Cement
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|  | Cyril
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|  | Fletcher
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|  | Elgin
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|  | Fort Sill
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|  | Lawton
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The Meteor in 1909. The Meteor 4500 moved to its permanent position in Tulsa, OK.

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 and was later extended to Lawton, Oklahoma on July 18, 1955. The name was shared with a branch line Meteor running between Monett, Missouri, and Paris, Texas. Later this line was truncated to terminate at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The Meteor was inaugurated between St. Louis and Tulsa in 1902.[1] One engineer who joined the Frisco in 1917 recalled that the Meteor was already a well-known train at that time.[2] Initially the trains were pulled by Frisco-class 1300 locomotives, being high-wheeled Baldwin engines with 2-8-0 wheel arrangements.[3] During the late 1930s and into the early years of World War II, Frisco-class 1500 Baldwin engines with 4-8-2 wheel arrangements took over the job.[2]

Frisco-class 4500 locomotives, and specifically locomotives No. 4500, 4501 and 4502, being three of twenty-five Northern class Baldwin 4-8-4s built for Frisco during World War II, were later 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.[4] These three passenger engines also saw service pulling the Texas Special. In 1948, 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 use diesel locomotives, No. 4500 was re-painted into Frisco's standard black with gold striping and lettering and assigned to passenger trains such as the Will Rogers. The cosmetically-restored No. 4500, back in its Meteor paint scheme, now resides at the Route 66 Historical Village at 3770 Southwest Blvd. in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[5] Engine No. 4501, also in the Meteor paint scheme, resides at the Museum of the American Railroad, in Frisco, Texas.[6]

The streamlined, diesel equipped Meteor began westbound operations on May 14, 1948, with its first eastbound train departing Oklahoma City on May 15. At the end of its maiden trip the president of the Frisco, while giving an interview in his private railcar attached to the train, pointed to a glass filled nearly to the brim with water. "Not a drop spilled between St. Louis and Tulsa," he said proudly.[2] 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 stainless-steel side panels. Frisco bought sets of named cars for each train.

The last day of Meteor service was September 17, 1965.[1] While its itinerary was on an overnight schedule, it was followed by a day train on the same route, the Oklahoman.[7]

## Named cars

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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.

Cars used on the Meteor

Car name  | No.  | Railroad  | Type  | Made  | Notes
Normandy | 251 | SLSF | combination baggage, 30 ft (9.1 m) mail | 1947 |
Valley Park | 252 | SLSF | baggage, 30 ft 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, observation | 1947 |
Oklahoma City | 1551 | SLSF | 24-seat diner, 18-seat lounge, observation | 1947 |
Ladue | 1651 | SLSF | 26-seat coach, buffet, 25-seat lounge | 1947 |
Huntleigh | 1652 | SLSF | 26-seat coach, buffet, 25-seat lounge | 1947 |

## Models of the Meteor

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* 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.

## References

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1. ^ a b Schafer, Mike (September 2003). Classic American Railroads, Volume 3, p122-130. MBI Publishing Company LLC. ISBN 9780760316498. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
2. ^ a b c Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15.
3. ^ Bob Foresman, “Bright memories of Tulsa’s ‘Meteor” Train,” Tulsa World, August 28, 1992, http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bright-memories-of-tulsa-s-meteor-train/article_4d777fe2-129a-5e9a-a0e0-9d0ef6c42319.html, Retrieved 6-10-15. More precisely, 2-8-0s were Frisco-class 1306 engines, not to be confused with the Frisco-class 1350 locomotives which were 2-8-0s converted by Frisco to 2-8-2s in the WWII timeframe. See http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/?page=slsf Archived 2017-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 6-11-15.
4. ^ "St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company ("Frisco") 4501". Museum of the American Railroad. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
5. ^ "Route 66 Historical Village". TravelOK.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
6. ^ "Museum of the American Railroad website". Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
7. ^ "St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, Table 1". Official Guide of the Railways. 98 (8). National Railway Publication Company. January 1966.

* Condren, Mike (December 31, 2002). "Frisco-Katy Streamlined Passenger Equipment". Christian Brothers University. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
* "Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western No. 63". SteamLocomotive.info. Carstens Publications. 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
* "St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company ("Frisco") 4501". Museum of the American Railroad. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meteor (train).

* 1948 timetable

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Passenger service on the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway

* Black Gold
* Blue Bonnet
* Firefly
* Kansas City–Florida Special
* Memphian
* Meteor
* Oklahoman
* Sunnyland
* Texas Special
* Will Rogers

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