St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco) Railway Steam Locomotive #4003 is one of three locomotives on the US National Register on display at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum.
It is free to wander the Trolley Museum grounds, but donations are always greatly appreciated. There is a nominal fare to ride the trolley around downtown.
The National Register nomination form for this locomotive can be found at the AR Preservation Society website: (
visit link)
"STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco) Railway Steam Locomotive #4003 is a Class USRAl, 2-8-2-A Mikado freight steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in March 1919. It was operated by the Frisco until 1952. The locomotive was donated to the City of Fort Smith in 1954 and resided in Kay Rodgers Park until c. 2000 when it was removed from the park and donated to the Fort Smith Trolley Museum. The locomotive is now housed at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum where it is on display. Of the 625 Class USRAl, 2-8-2-A locomotives built, Engine #4003 is one of approximately six known remaining in
the U.S.
. . .
Integrity
Engine #4003 possesses very strong integrity. Although the locomotive is currently not operational, it has been inspected and determined that it could be restored to operational condition again. Since Engine #4003 was built, parts of the locomotive have been replaced and repaired. However, this is a normal practice for steam locomotives as parts wear out. Engine #4003 currently resides at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, and sits among other pieces of rolling stock on a spur off of the original Frisco rail line. Additionally, the spur appears on the 194 7 USGS topographic map, indicating that it was in place while Engine #4003 was in service. As a result, its current setting still reflects Engine #4003 's period of significance while it was in operation on the Frisco in the Fort Smith area."
More history of this amazing Mikado steam engine ad the influence of the US Railroad Administration in its development from the nominating form (heavily edited for length and relevance by BMB):
"The line between Fort Smith and Monett, Missouri, which Engine #4003 was assigned to, was under
construction by 1881 as part of the St. Louis, Arkansas, & Texas Railroad. The route chosen by the railroad across Northwestern Arkansas to Fort Smith actually followed the old Butterfield stage route. However, it was not until 1884 that the line was completed into Fort Smith. The reason for the delay in the completion of the line was because it had to cross the military reservation at Fort Smith. As a result, Congress had to pass and the President had to sign an act allowing the railroad line to cross the reservation. In return for the permission, the railroad was required to construct a stone wall along the inside boundary of the right-of-way.
The wall constructed by the railroad matched the walls on the other three sides of the reservation and
completed the enclosure of the reservation.8 By 1895, the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad became part of the Frisco system.
In the early twentieth century, the Frisco Railroad, like most other American railroads, made little investment
in new equipment for its line. Increased labor costs and debt left over from the 1907 financial panic meant that there was little extra money for new locomotives and cars. As a result, when World War I broke out, it quickly became apparent that American railroads were not prepared to handle the sudden increase in traffic that the war mobilization effort required. The locomotives and cars in use on railroads across the country, including the Frisco, were not well maintained, obsolete, and not plentiful enough to meet the demand.
. . . [T]he United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was founded on December 28, 1917 . . . in order to oversee the nationalization of the privately-owned American railroad, and when it took over that task on January 1, 1918, it identified the shortage of locomotives as the one of the
problems that needed immediate attention. . . .
The USRA created a Locomotive Committee with representatives from eleven railroads and the three major locomotive builders of the time (ALCO, Baldwin, and Lima) to develop standard locomotive designs that could be used across the country. Using standard plans would allow the railroads and locomotive builders to take advantage of the concepts of standardized parts and mass production. Using proven locomotive designs and incorporating the best of the age’s modern technology, the Committee created designs for twelve different types of locomotives. . . . [including] the first locomotive built to USRA design, Baltimore and Ohio #4500, a 2-8-2-A Mikado type built by the
Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia . . . Altogether, 97 railroads used USRA locomotive designs . . . Of the twelve designs developed by the USRA, the 2-8-2-A Mikado was by far the most popular design built, and it was also the principal freight locomotive used in North America.
USRA 2-8-2-A Mikados would eventually be assigned to a total of 32 different railroads. The Frisco Railroad had a total of 33 USRA 2-8-2-A Mikados, although, interestingly, none of
them were originally allocated to the Frisco by the USRA. Twenty-three of the locomotives (#4000-4007 and 4017-4031) were initially allocated to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), but were rejected. The other ten examples were originally allocated to the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, a division of the New York Central.
(All together, the Frisco would have 125 Mikados in their fleet.) 16
Originally, the Frisco told the USRA that they were not interested in the locomotives, either. However, the railroad saw how good they were, and eventually decided to accept them. To prepare them for service, the Frisco modified them, fitting them with cast trailing trucks and boosters. Additionally, most of the Mikados that the Frisco received from the USRA, including Engine #4003, had their cab roofs raised for additional headroom.
Frisco Engine #4003 was built by ALCO in March 1919 in their Schenectady, New York, shops as USRA Engine #20008. It was ALCO construction number 60946, and cost $53,619 to build. After the locomotive had been rejected by the PRR, it was purchased by the Frisco in August 1919, and placed in service hauling freight trains between Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Monett, Missouri.
Engine #4003 was also used for occasional passenger service. (Engine #4003 would be one of only three ALCO-built Mikados in service on the Frisco. . . .The 2-8-2-A Mikado design, like Engine #4003, was a good choice on the line between Fort Smith and Monett, which was one of the Frisco's major branch lines. Mikados were relatively large locomotives, which meant that they could haul general purpose freight trains of between 3,000 and 5,000 tons. It was a design that was also well-suited to hauling passenger trains on steep grades, something that would have been found
on the Fort Smith-Monett line as it wound its way through the Boston Mountains.21
The freight trains that Engine #4003 hauled likely carried fruit and zinc among other products. . . .
By 1940, the Frisco, like many American railroads, began using diesel powered locomotives on their lines. Diesel locomotives are able to start a heavy train from a standstill more quickly than a steam locomotive can. Additionally, diesel locomotives are ready to work at any time, and spend much less time out of service for service and repairs than do steam locomotives. They can also travel greater distances without stopping for fuel.
The many advantages of diesel power would have been appealing to the Frisco, as they were to other
railroads. The Frisco began an earnest effort in 1948 to switch to diesel locomotives, and, as a result, Engine #4003 was retired by the Frisco in 1952.(In fact, the last steam-powered train on the Frisco ran between Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama, in February 1952
Although it was retired in 1952, the Frisco kept Engine #4003 until September 1954 when it was donated to the City of Fort Smith. The City of Fort Smith placed the locomotive in Kay Rodgers Park on Midland Boulevard where it remained until c. 2000. At that time, the City donated the locomotive to the Fort Smith Trolley Museum as long as the Museum paid for the cost of locomotive's move.
Professional house movers were hired and the move from Kay Rodgers Park to the Museum's grounds was completed c. 2000. Engine #4003 currently resides at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, and sits among other pieces of rolling stock on a spur off of the original Frisco rail line.
Although Engine #4003 is currently not operational, it has been determined that it is in good condition and could be restored to operating condition. However, the Museum has no plans to restore the locomotive at the present time. The estimated cost of restoration is $500,000-$750,000, and the fact that the Museum does not own any track where the locomotive could be run are major obstacles to completing a restoration.
Today, St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco) Railway Steam Locomotive #4003 is a living reminder of Arkansas's rich railroad history, and the rich history of the Frisco's presence in Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas in the early part of the twentieth century. Frisco Engine #4003 is currently the last remaining Frisco steam locomotive in Arkansas. In addition, Engine #4003 is a rare remnant of the USRA's railroad legacy. The influence of the USRA across the country during and after World War I was extensive with 1,856 locomotives being built to USRA designs during the War and another 3,251 being built after the War."