Chasing Trains:
It isn’t often that you can step back in history fifty or sixty years and relive a bit of the past. Neil and I got to do just that today.
It all started on Friday when Judy brought a news article on the radio to my attention. The Union Pacific steam locomotive, no. 844 was coming into Portland from Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was going to be teamed up with Portland’s own Southern Pacific steam locomotive, no. 4449 and then travel on to Tacoma, Washington.
Neil bravely faced the early morning dawn and picked me up and we staked out a section of UP tracks in the Hollywood District here in Portland. Fortunately I brought along my laptop and we were able to track the train over the internet. It’s a case of the old technology being followed by new technology. The train carried a GPS receiver and a satellite uplink dish. This reports the train’s position to Union Pacific. The UP website then plots the train’s position on a map for all to see. We watched the movement of the train until it arrived in the outskirts of Portland about two hours late. Then we noticed the train’s track did not follow the published route. They were bypassing our chunk of track altogether. We quickly packed up computer and cameras and headed for North Portland.
We staked out a stretch of track just before the trains cross the Columbia River into Washington. This time we were more confident because there were dozens of rail buffs standing around. I selected a nice piece of rail and placed a penny for the engine to crush. Oops here comes a Diesel freight from the Vancouver side of the river. I had to quickly retrieve my penny. We had to wait for a second opposing train to clear the bridge before they brought the steamers down the track. Finally we heard the distinctive sound of the steam whistle moaning in the distance and saw a towering plume of steam from the approaching train.
The SP4449 was on the point and the UP 844 was second in line to make this a double headed train. The UP 844 is a “Northern” class engine with a wheel designation of 4-8-4 and weighs over 908,000 lbs and is 114 ft long. It was delivered to the Union Pacific in 1944 The SP engine is also a “Northern” class engine but is a relative lightweight at 866,000 lbs. and only stretches to 101 feet. The SP took delivery of this engine in 1941.
As the engines came chuffing past us we realized that these gleaming giants are truly a special breed. They are all spit and polish which is a far cry from the way things were in the 1950’s when the last of these steamers were displaced by the modern Diesels. It is really wonderful that some people had the foresight to save these from the scrap yard and preserve a bit of our heritage.
I have posted a couple photos on the web page.
Oh yes, I retrieved my very flat penny, so I have a souvenir of the passing of history.
Bye now and love to all from Gary and Judy
