Frisco Park Steam Engine - Amory, MS - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

In 1926, the SLSF (Frisco) Railway purchased 30 of the 4-8-2 configuration type locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Penn. The 4-8-2 designation was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and became a way to classify steam locomotives by wheel arrangement. Whyte’s system counted the number of leading wheels, then the number of driving wheels, and finally the number of training wheels, with groups of numbers being separated by dashes. Frisco 1529 had the distinction of being the very last 4-8-2 “Mountain” type locomotive built by Baldwin for the Frisco Railway in 1926. The price tag was a mere $69,586.79 each.

On November 18, 1934, beautiful weather prevailed as Frisco Engine 1529 made a stop in Amory during a trip from Washington, D.C. to Tupelo. This was no ordinary train. It was the special train of the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. With around 15,000 people in attendance, President Roosevelt spoke from the back of the train platform remarking, “I had thought all the people in this part of the country must have been in Tupelo, but evidently there must be plenty more here.” President Roosevelt also said that his was his first visit to North Mississippi, and he was coming back. He called the state a pioneer in the field of electrical development and remarked that other states and communities were standing by watching the wonderful work and that someday the entire country would follow suit.

The arrival of diesel power in the late 1940s caused most of the original 30 Frisco Railroad “Mountain” locomotives to be either retired or scrapped. Frisco 1529’s final accolade would be that it was the last steam engine to make a passenger run for Frisco. In fact, during its service on the Eastern, Northern and Southern divisions of the Frisco Railway, Frisco 1529 traveled 1,663,014 miles during its lifetime - the equivalent of almost 65 times around the world. When the Frisco Railroad converted to diesel power in 1952, they decided to retire Frisco 1529. But where do you retire a workhorse like Frisco 1529?

On October 29, 1953, over 5,000 people showed up to celebrate the gift of Frisco 1529 from the Frisco Railroad to the City of Amory. They would also witness the dedication of the new $200,000 Amory division office building of the Frisco railroad. During a speech by the governor Huge White at the dedication ceremony, he predicted that the retired locomotive would become a popular attraction for sightseers. “Within 10 years, there won’t be any steam engines left,” he said, “and this will probably be the only one in North Mississippi.”


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Locomotive Type: (required): Steam Do you need to pay an entrance fee to view this locomotive? (required): No If a fee is required what is the approximate cost for admittance? (optional): 0 How accessible is this locomotive display? (Required): Display is behind a fence, access is limited to viewing only. If "other" what is the engine type? (optional): Not listed

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Date Logged Log   10/06/2015 YoSam. visited it