The Wabash Frisco and Pacific Railroad 928 warms up in the morning for a long day’s work on Saturday, Oct. 22. The WF&P is a 12-inch gauge live steam railroad club founded in 1939 by a few railway enthusiasts. It was originally located at Brown Rd by Lambert International Airport but is now located in Wildwood.

WF&P member Matt Grewe oils locomotive 928 in preparation for the day. The WF&P 928 is a 4-8-2 mountain type that was completed by the WF&P shops in 2006 and has been the workhorse of the railroad since running almost every weekend between May and October. 4-8-2 designates the wheel arrangement of the locomotive: 4 wheels on the pilot truck, 8 driving wheels and 2 wheel on the trailing truck.

The 928 awaits for orders while waiting in the ballast track with Cars 201, 251 and Caboose with crew members Kyle Timmerman as the engineer, Matt Grewe as the conductor and Andrew Wapelhorst as the dispatcher. The 928 is oil fired, meaning that instead of using coal it uses oil or in this case recycled jet fuel, which is held in the tender behind the locomotive. The 928 is one of four locomotives at the WF&P that is oil fired, the others being 534 a 4-6-4 Hudson type, 400 a 4-6-2 Pacific, and 300 a 4-4-2 Atlantic.

After making a run up the 3% grade nicknamed the extension, the 928 rests at the top of the hill waiting to head back down to Yeatman Wye, a track that is shaped like a Y where the engine turns around. The 928 is the railroad’s only “in-house” built steam locomotive and was completed 99 years after the railroad’s first and oldest locomotive the 171, a 4-4-0 American type. The number 928 signifies the birthday of one of the railroad’s late founding members, Fred Kiesel, and because of this, the 928 wears a special number plate with the initials G.F. KIESEL stenciled on the bottom of the number plate.

After turning the engine on, the Wye, conductor Matt Grewe calls for orders to head back to the Glencoe station. The WF&P runs every Sunday between the first Sunday in May to the last Sunday in October with a train leaving every 30 minutes between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. every Sunday rain or shine.

As the 928 makes a switching move in the yard, locomotive 180 waits on the service track for the next run after being serviced. The 180 is a 4-4-0 American type locomotive built by the Missouri Iron Works sometime during the 1920s and was acquired by a WF&P member in 1944. It has been a workhorse for the railroad for more than 75 years.

After passing the 5205 at Bluffs Siding, the 928 slowly creeps through the bluffs main on their way back to the Glencoe station. Located off of Old State Road just before Highway 109, the WF&P is an uncommon carrier most people don’t know about.

Engineer Kyle Timmerman brings the train through Meramac Junction just before the yard limits. After being forced to move from Brown Road, the WF&P found themselves where they are today in Glencoe, Mo, where they run along the Meramec River and Al Foster trail.

Engineer Kyle Timmerman carefully brings the 2:30 train out of the station in the rainy conditions. 928 has gone through many different looks since it was finished in 2006. Today, 928 is lettered and numbered like a Missouri Pacific locomotive.

As a final hurrah to the 2022 Season, all 3 steam locomotives ran on the last train of the 2022 season. WF&P is always accepting new members—anyone not afraid of getting dirty from working on equipment can join.