Classic Trains – September 2019

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trio, it’s UP 844, which has the unique
status in mainline steam of having never
been retired. The last steam locomotive
built for the UP, the huge Northern has
been on the road’s roster since its arrival
from Alco in December 1944, just as the
Allies were feeling the pinch of Germany’s
last, desperate thrust, the famous Battle
of the Bulge. The 844 and her nine sisters
in the FEF-3 class threw themselves into
the war effort as they ranged far and wide
across the Overland Route, putting their
80-inch drivers into the business of haul-
ing passengers and freight.
The 844 has called Cheyenne, Wyo.,
home for its entire career, over the years
going through various rebuilds and paint
iterations, not to mention its 1962–89
tenure as 8444, a number created to avoid
conflict with a GP30. For a time in the
late 1980s and ’90s, the locomotive wore
UP’s passenger paint scheme of two-tone
gray with yellow trim, but today the
engine is back in its original black.
Recently rebuilt before the UP steam
crew began work on 4-8-8-4 No. 4014,
the 844 will be compliant with FRA boil-
er requirements for years to come. And
although it might be said to be now in
the shadow of the Big Boy, the 844 got
plenty of attention in May when it dou-
bleheaded behind the 4014 on a round
trip to Ogden, Utah, where the two
engines struck a Promontory-style head-
to-head pose to mark the 150th anniver-
sary of the Golden Spike. Learn more at
http://www.up.com/heritage.

IN THE WINGS: SANTA FE 2926

If two Northerns and a Berkshire
aren’t enough to conjure images of
steam’s heroics during wartime, there’s

one other giant that’s already been

steamed up on its shop track, with a shot

at hitting the rails yet this year: Santa Fe

4-8-4 No. 2926. The Allies were pound-

ing the German redoubt at Monte Cassi-

no, Italy, when the huge Northern arrived

on AT&SF property from Baldwin in

March 1944, part of a 10-engine order

delivered that year. The New Mexico

Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical

Society has been rebuilding the engine at

their facility in Albuquerque for several

years and they’re closing in on their goal

of putting the 2926 back to work. The

engine will be the biggest 4-8-4 to run in

the preservation era. More information is

at http://www.nmslrhs.org.

In a memorable cover story in the Jan-

uary 1970 issue of Trains titled “Ride a

Living Legend,” writer Harold A. Edmon-

son rode the cab of the 844 and declared it

“the epitome of the best the modern

steam age offered.” The same might also be

said for all the 1944 engines that continue

to delight us to this day, performing just

as their designers intended, but without

the threatening backdrop of world war.

On the evening of May 8, 2019, UP 844 waits near Ogden Union Station for the next day’s
“Spike 150” ceremony, which brought her pilot-to-pilot with Big Boy 4014. Robert S. McGonigal

End of the Trail

Trips from New Mexico to northern

Illinois in the late 1960s enabled a

boy to savor the dying embers of

passenger-train elegance

Empire of Express

From baby chicks to feature films,

nearly everything Americans used

moved by Railway Express

Archive Treasures

Legendary lensman J. Parker Lamb

turns his camera to short lines

Bucking the Spare Board

A son recounts the various jobs his

father held during a 50-year career

on NYC’s Boston & Albany

Seeking Streamliners, 1969

The California Zephyr and other

streamliners highlighted a railfan’s

cross-country car trip

The Best of Everything

Chris Burger moves to Wisconsin

and a new position with the Chicago

& North Western

PLUS: True Color, Car Stop,

The Way It Was, Bumping

Post, and more!

Nex tIssue

WINTER ISSUE

ON SALE

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Restoration work progresses on Santa Fe

2926 in March 2018. Her owners threw her a

75th birthday party on May 18, 2019. Jim Wrinn