844 IS SITTING IN SAN ANTONIO. WHEN 844 LEAVES SATURDAY MORNING FOR AUSTIN, DOES ANYBODY KNOW EXACTLY HOW THEY'RE LEAVING TOWN AND WHAT AAR CHANNELS THEY WILL BE USING? THANKS.
First of all, please turn off your caps lock key (it's considered yelling). UP has some info on their site (although not quite as specific as you're asking) at http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/excurs/schedule.shtml including a GPS tracking page http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/excurs/trace.cfm
There's a snowball's chance in Phoenix that I could catch them at their next weekend stop--KC, Missouri.... But I will be in town that week.. If anyone is in the KC area, lemme know, we could meet up!
The are exactly leaving going forward under steam power. They will use UP rail. How many U.P. routes are there between S.A and Austin? They will leave doing every bit of track speed that is allowed. It took us driving well over my normally safe speed to catch and shoot her just three times in NM over a roughly 150 miles of a lightly traveled US highway. I cannot help with the radio frequency.
The latest 844 news piece Steam engine provides trip back in time Union Pacific Railroad’s No. 844 will prompt older Arkansans to reminisce and leave children awestruck when the steam locomotive chugs into Arkansas this week, Fred Fillers says. The last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific, No. 844 will make five stops in Arkansas this week, including Van Buren, as part of a 35-day, 10-state tour celebrating the railroad’s history and heritage. It dates back to the 1940's, when up to 40 passenger trains pulled by locomotives would travel through central Arkansas every day, said Fillers, president of the Arkansas Railroad Club. Now it’s down to two Amtrak diesel-powered trains daily. “Diesels just make noise,” Fillers said. “A steam locomotive is alive.” The nearly 1 million-pound behemoth is expected to attract hundreds of people young and old when it stops in North Little Rock for a day-long layover and display Thursday and in four other towns before and after that day. “It’s just like seeing an old airplane or old car that still works,” said Ken Ziegenbein, a retired weather forecaster who edits the Arkansas Railroader newsletter, which has 300 subscribers in 26 states. “It’s amazing to see how big they are.” The train is expected to arrive in Hope at 11:00 Wednesday and stay 30 minutes to be serviced. It is scheduled to arrive on tracks behind the Union Pacific office at 1000 W. Fourth St. in North Little Rock at 16:00 Wednesday. During the display stop, people will be allowed to enter the locomotive’s crew compartment, according to company officials. The locomotive will depart North Little Rock at 08:00 Friday. No. 844 will have a two-hour display stop in Conway beginning at 11:30 Friday before arriving in Russellville at 13:30 for another overnight stop at Cleveland Avenue and East Main Place there. No. 844 departs at 08:00 Saturday and, after a 30-minute service stop in Van Buren at 10:00, heads to Oklahoma. For an up-to-the-minute notion of where the train is, Union Pacific has an Internet site that uses a global positioning satellite transmitter installed on one of the railcars that will travel with No. 844. It has been integrated with a map on the company’s Web site at up. com. The map can be accessed by entering the word “steam” in the search box on the home page. The tour began in the locomotive’s home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Apr27. The South Central States Heritage Express Tour is scheduled to end Jun01. Ziegenbein said a good place to watch for No. 844 will be at Union Station at Markham and Victory streets in Little Rock between 15:00 and 16:00 Wednesday. No. 844 is also known as Union Pacific’s “Living Legend.” Delivered in 1944, it was designed to be a high-speed passenger engine, pulling such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, the Los Angeles Limited, the Portland Rose and the Challenger, according to the company’s history. The locomotive was one of 45 steam engines in the Northern class of locomotives that Union Pacific operated. They could travel 100 mph or faster. They initially were assigned to passenger trains, but when diesels came along, Northern-class engines were moved to freight service. No. 844 was returned to service in 2005 after one of the most extensive steam-locomotive overhauls in the United States since the 1950's. The work, which began in 2000 and affected the locomotive’s running gear, pumps, piping, valves and springs, also replaced its firebox and extensive boiler work. The cab interior also was refurbished. Company spokesman Mark Davis says he cannot put a value on how much money it takes to keep the locomotive running. “I don’t know if there’s a dollar amount,” he said. “The whole idea is preserving a part of our history. We’re fortunate we still have it.” - Noel E. Oman, The Arkansas Democrat Gazette
