As anyone who is a fan of the Library Station knows, the transportation-themed facility on North Kansas Expressway is awash in historical artifacts featuring planes, trains and automobiles.

But it's the vintage train theme that chugs throughout the 53,000-square-foot library that makes the place bright, fun and interesting. The focus of the branch, since its opening in 2003, has always been the historic railroad that played an important role in the growth of Springfield and in the lives of those who worked for what-was-once Springfield's largest employer.

The Frisco—formally known as the Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway—will be in the spotlight this summer as the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the History Museum for Springfield-Greene County celebrate "The Railroad That Made Springfield Great," the title of the exhibit now through September 19 at the History Museum's new location on Park Central Square in the former Barth's building.

Now through August, the Library Station will display additional Frisco memorabilia, courtesy of Springfield Underground. "There will be all kinds of interesting items in all six of our display cases," said Melissa Davis, manager of the Library Station. "You'll see vintage ticket punches, authentic Frisco dishes and a bellhop uniform, some antique lanterns used by the brakemen and Morse code equipment."

There will be an actual railroad speeder, loaned by Jeff Ruth, in the foyer, a photography display featuring—what else?—trains of all kinds by members of the Southwest Missouri Camera Club, train-related programs in July and August and, of course, displays of books on the subject.

The Frisco remains popular all across the country. The library's unique Frisco web page receives thousands of hits daily. This digital collection of depot and locomotive photographs, postcards, employee information cards and employee magazines tells the story of what, for years, was the primary link between small towns in the south and Midwest and the rest of the country. The Frisco was particularly influential in the Springfield area because its operational center was located here for many years.

You can access this collection from any patron computer at the nine branch libraries or from your home computer. Click on Local History and then Digitized Collections at thelibrary.org.

But if you just have to ring an authentic Frisco locomotive bell (muffled to keep the employees sane), you'll have to visit the Library Station. The bell, the symbol of trains everywhere, is right there in front of the checkout desk.