UP 844: an absolutely arcane locomotive

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Steam locomotives are alive. And they are incredibly arcane.

Enjoy.

Imagine having to know all of this.

Now you realize how labor-intensive the railroads were at one time. And why.

BZ

 

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8 thoughts on “UP 844: an absolutely arcane locomotive”

  1. Thank You ! I can still recall hearing that whistle in the distance; And I bust out running down to the back fence, to watch (& listen to the whistle) as the train rolled past the house along Hwy. 30 when I was a kid. I loved it then and I love it now. Thank you for bringing those memories back! P.S. Wish I could still see them running…

  2. A few years ago the UP 844 was returning to Denver with the Cheyenne Frontier Days Special when an idiot drove around the crossing guards South of Brighton, CO. That engineer almost got the train stopped – lacked about 200′. No fatalities.

    A childhood memory during the Korean War was watching three steam locomotives pulling and two pushing about 120 flatbed cars loaded with military tanks toiling up the 3% grade at Pinecliff, CO on the D&RG. The helper engines would disconnect at the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel, turn around on a Y there, and highball back to Denver.

      • Assuming the destination was Oakland, that load of tanks needed to go over Soldiers Summit (3.2% grade at Thistle) to Salt Lake. The Western Pacific would take over and get them over Donner Pass. The mind boggles.

        • WSF, if you didn’t already know it, that’s where I live. I’m at the 4,000-foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains adjacent the original Central Pacific line. It’s roughly 1,000 feet away and slightly above me. I can hear all the UP engines struggling uphill and under dynamic braking downhill day and night.

          BZ

  3. WSF, yes I did. I had my own railroad blog. It’s still here:

    http://mp154trainblog.blogspot.com/

    I haven’t posted since 2014 for any number of reasons. I hadn’t had much time available, I never did fully transition into a good video camera (I was using a Cisco Systems Flip Camera — which no one makes or supports any more).

    Further: I’m in my 7th decade. I just don’t hike around like I used to.

    BZ

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