UP 844

Earlier this week Union Pacific's train of goodwill rolled through the Bay Area. Engine Number 844 was the last steam engine built for Union Pacific. It was put into service in 1944 as a high speed passenger engine. It's a big engine, 454 tons 114 feet 2 inches long according to the spec sheet. For a day the engine was parked at the UP railyard in Oakland and the public was invited to get up close. Yesterday the 844 steamed through Jack London Square. It was going fairly slowly to avoid running over the photographers standing on the tracks as long as they could. You could see the plume of smoke against the blue sky. signaling the train's arrival a long way off. The whistle of the steam train was not as loud and shrill as the train whistles of today. It sure was fun to see the engine chug by. No. 844 makes a few mores stops in the west along its Western Heritage Tour this year. I don't know if this is a yearly thing but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for next year's schedule.