LOCOMOTIVE LEGEND OLD NO. 844 COMING TO THE DESERT!
The desert has it's own iconic legends...Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Dwight Eisenhower-- but a different kind of icon will be chugging through the valley this week! Old Number 844 will be making a rare swing through California! Steam Locomotive No. 844 is the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad. It was delivered in 1944. A high-speed passenger engine, it pulled such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.
No. 844, also known as Union Pacific's “Living Legend,” underwent an extensive overhaul before returning to service in 2005. Started in 2000, the work included overhauling the locomotive's running gear, pumps, piping, valves and springs, along with replacement of its firebox and extensive boiler work. The cab interior was also refurbished. When diesel-electric locomotives took over all passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was saved from the scrap pile in 1960 and reserved for special service.
Union Pacific Railroad's iconic steam locomotive, No. 844, will make a stop in Indio Thursday before heading to Bloomington, near San Bernardino, where it will be on display Friday.
It's all part of a 2,900-mile, nine-state tour from its base in Wyoming for No. 844, the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific. The tour includes earlier stops in New Mexico and Arizona to help kick off centennial celebrations in each state.
No. 844 is scheduled to depart Yuma, Ariz. at sunrise Thursday, and stop for servicing in Indio at 9:45 a.m. at Indio Boulevard at Civic Center Drive. It will chuff out of Indio at 10:15 a.m. and head through San Gorgonio Pass, Beaumont and Redlands for Bloomington, where it will be on display from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at 10-359 Alder Ave.
So if you want to catch a glimpse of No. 844 in Indio-- you better meet it at the station at 9:45... because it will depart in only 30 minutes!
It leaves Bloomington at 8 a.m. Saturday, and will go north over Cajon Pass towards Las Vegas and Utah before it heads back to Wyoming.
No. 844, also known as Union Pacific's “Living Legend,” underwent an extensive overhaul before returning to service in 2005. Starting in 2000, the work included overhauling the locomotive's running gear, pumps, piping, valves and springs, along with replacement of its firebox and extensive boiler work. The cab interior was also refurbished.
When diesel-electric locomotives took over all passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was saved from the scrap pile in 1960 and reserved for special service. Today, ten crew people travel the rails with No. 844, and are caring for it at it's home base.
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