The St. Louis–San Francisco class 4500 was a class of 25

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...

"Northern" type steam locomotives built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

between 1942-1943 and operated by the

St. Louis–San Francisco Railway The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway , commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to November 21, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated of road on of track, not includ ...

. The first three operated in passenger service, pulling trains such as the ''

Meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

''. The rest pulled freight throughout the system until retirement by the early 1950s. Four 4500s has been preserved and all are on display.

History

The first three (Nos 4500–4502) were built as oil-burning

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s in 1942 for Frisco passenger service. They were painted in the zephyr blue, white and gray paint scheme with "Meteor" spelled out on the side of the tender in bold, red letters. They were used for pulling Frisco's crack ''

'' train service. They also saw service pulling Frisco's ''

Texas Special The ''Texas Special'' was a List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger train operated jointly by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (also known as the MKT or the Katy) and the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (the Frisco). It was ...

''. When the ''Meteor'' was dieselized, the locomotives were re-painted into Frisco's standard black with gold striping and lettering, and assigned to passenger trains such as the ''

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

''. The latter twelve (Nos. 4503–4514) were also built in 1942, but as coal burners and pulled fast freight throughout the Frisco system. The last ten (Nos. 4515–4524) were built in 1943 as coal burners and also pulled freight. Despite the latter 22 being intended for freight service, they have also pulled passenger trains on occasion. Some of the earlier locomotives were equipped with boosters. 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. Their design was also similar to the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

's O-5 class of Northerns, though there were some differences. As the Frisco was dieselising, the locomotives was assigned to secondary passenger trains such as the ''General Wood'' and all were out of operation and put into storage by 1952.

Preservation

Four 4500s survived into preservation: *# 4500 is on display for free public viewing at the

Route 66 Historical Village The Route 66 Historical Village at 3770 Southwest Boulevard in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is an open-air museum along historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66, Route 66). The village includes a oil derrick at the historic site of the first oil strike in Tu ...

at 3770 Southwest Blvd. in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. *# 4501 is on display at the Museum of the American Railroad in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

. *# 4516 is on display at Missouri State Fair Grounds in

Sedalia, Missouri Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 ...

. *# 4524 is on display at Grant Beach Park in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

Roster

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Louis-San Francisco class 4500 4500 4-8-4 locomotives 2′D2′ h2 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Preserved steam locomotives of the United States Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1942 Steam locomotives of the United States