Frisco Silver Dollar Line

The Frisco Silver Dollar Line is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, Missouri. The railroad opened on May 27, 1962, making it the oldest operating ride at Silver Dollar City. 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 four of them in operating condition. The railroad is 1.6 miles long.

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". The robbery act is replaced by grandpa telling the reason of the season.

The ride’s full name is “Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train”. It is sometimes referred to as the “Frisco Scenic Railway Line” or just “Steam Train” among radio callsigns and general park employee slang.

Locomotives

The Frisco Silver Dollar Line consists of a total of seven steam engines, of which five are used. Currently, 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. The Frisco Silver Dollar Line also has two sets of four passenger cars, which are always pulled by one of the operating steam engines. There is an “old” and “new” set of passenger cars, with the old ones being built in the 1970s, and the new ones being built from 2011 to 2016.

Engine #7

Engine #7 was built by Orenstein & Koppel (O&K) in Berlin, Germany in 1934. It is an 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 in the accident. 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 as an 0-4-0ST by the Davenport Locomotive Works in Davenport, Iowa in 1922. It was originally numbered 76 and it was the only operational engine on the line for about 8 years. It is a 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. The locomotive was converted to a tender engine by Henry Ford during his ownership of the engine.

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 Berlin, 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 165 PSI. #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 previously operated with a large left side tank that went into the cab, but operates better without it. #43 operated as a type from the 1962 to 2018. However, its pony truck was removed in the 2019 offseason. 43's smokebox was repainted with graphite paint in 2021. This type of paint is more durable and sticks longer on 43's hot smokebox. The engine is typically used as a backup. 43 has a planned overhaul in the near future.

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 Berlin, 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. During her operation, this engine seemed to run 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 restored sister engine, #14.

13 has an extremely large side tank on her fireman’s side.

Engine #76

Engine #76 is the second youngest operational steam engine of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line. It was built by Ceskomoravska Kolben-Danek in 1940. 76 weighs about 16 tons and is exactly 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches in length from pilot to coupler. She is about 5 feet wide. The operating pressure is 165 PSI. 76 was likely sold to Silver Dollar City in the 1980s. 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. It operated as a since her beginning of operation to the end of 2018 Old Time Christmas, but before Silver Dollar City's Opening Day of 2019, they transformed it back to an type wheel arrangement by removing its pony truck. In October 2019, it received 13's old Pyle-National headlight, which was also worn by 43 in the past. 76 is the 2nd largest (behind 14) and also the most powerful engine on the line. In addition, it can keep a full head of steam in its boiler even after climbing the steep grade up to the train depot. She is overweight, and has lots of springs, which can make the engine pretty stiff. As of May 2022, the engine is receiving upgrades to her bottom half. 76 previously operated with odd side tank conditions, with the engineer’s side tank being a water tank at one point, and the other being extended into the rear of the cab.

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 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. In 2019, 504 received many improvements. Its air pump steam exhaust was moved from the cab to the smokebox, which reduced the loud chuffing noise it made. Also moved was the main air reservoir from under the cab to the tender. 504 got a new drawbar in 2021. Like 43, graphite paint was applied to the smokebox in 2022.

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 died 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 type just like all of the other engines. She weighs about 14 tons and is 13 feet tall. A new burner was put in the firebox in 2021. 14’s firebox is 6 inches taller than her original, leaving smaller room to build steam.

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.

Operations

Each operating day starts off in the roundhouse fueling up the engine, blowing down the boiler to clean out dirty water, and cleaning the flues. While this is happening, another engineer will walk the entire railroad checking for issues. The operating engine of the day is fired up and reversed over the shop pit for inspection. After this is done, the engine, with its cars, will shove back to the mainline. After the switch is thrown, the train highballs to the depot. The mainline, from the roundhouse to the depot, is a steep uphill grade with curves and 4 crossings. The steepest part of the grade is between the Woodland Hike crossing and the Flooded Mine crossing where the grade reaches about 5.5%. The engineer also has to radio to the crossing guard at the Flooded Mine crossing to shut the gates as it is a public walkway. The Woodland Hike crossing is also a public crossing during the Harvest Festival. Once the train arrives in the depot, the conductors and robbers board, and it departs on a maintenance run to drop off the robbers, and to make sure the train is running smoothly. During 2-train ops, the 2nd train leaving the roundhouse does not perform a maintenance run.

The engines tend to lose several pounds in the boiler after climbing the hill. Every engine tends to do this. However, 76 has been known to keep a full head of steam.

After arriving back at the depot, the train will load and enter service. Trains typically run with only 1 engineer who completes the tasks of both an engineer and fireman. The engine's controls are accustomed so that the engineer can both operate and fire.

The speed limits on the railroad are as listed:
*7 MPH from the depot to the bottom of Powderkeg hill.
*10 MPH through the woods and to the robber shack/show.
*12 MPH until the Flooded Mine crossing
*9 MPH through the Flooded Mine crossing
*5 MPH through the depot

Accidents

On October 26, 2022, a train derailed, with three of the four coaches tipping over. Six guests and one crew member were injured.

See also

* Dollywood Express
*Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
* Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad

References

External links

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Heritage railroads in Missouri
Railroads of amusement parks in the United States
Steam locomotives of the United States