Steam!

Whistles, flames beckoning for railroad nostalgia fans

What a trip it was. The pops lifted, the whistle blew, flames flickered from the firebox flashpan and the massive side-rods turned the huge steel driving wheels.

The huge black behemoth of a steam locomotive tugged 15 heavyweight, loaded passenger cars out of the Boise depot in an excursion held in worship of the locomotive.

Among the 550 passengers riding each of two day trips to Weiser, Idaho, 100 miles away on the UPRR main line, were fanatics who came from San Diego, West Virginia, and Ephrata, Wash. Packed into the last railroad-maintained passenger cars, the fans held cameras and tape recorders out the vestibules to capture for future memories the last vestige of a marvelous era.

The locomotive, UPRR Northern No. 8444. was built in 1944, the last of a batch of wartime passenger steam power for the railroad. In 1951, her sister engines were scrapped for salvage, killed by the arrival of diesel power. But the railroad held onto 8444 as a publicity item, running a dozen such fan trips each season from the engine's home base in Cheyenne, Wyo.

The special from Boise was sponsored by the Snake River Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society. dedicated to preserving as much of the history of trains as possible. Members worked the fan trip. handing out literature, aiding photographers, and joining the friendly atmosphere aboard the rolling party.

In the presence of a steam locomotive, ordinary cares seemed to vanish. Color and age didn't matter. Politics was forgotten as the topic of the day became "How much of her drawbar horsepower are we utilizing?"

People who ordinarily rant about being delayed by trains at crossings suddenly sprang from their autos to snap picture after picture of the rapidly-receding special. Rubberneckers, mostly children who'd never seen live steam before waved at the passengers. Part of the mystique of riding the cars is the urge to wave at everyone.

And people who never met before carried spirited conversations sandwiched between shrieks of the whistle and popping out to snap more pictures. One couple aboard Saturday carried a $2,300 video tape recording outfit, which they said was solely used to recapture steam in motion. The couple reported they would spend Sunday chasing up and down country roads in pursuit of the locomotive.

From the train, those maniacs appear normal, as they speed from crossing to crossing, often in excess of the posted speeds, just for another picture. Even a deputy sheriff was spotted running with his lights flashing in front of the pack to keep less-enthusiastic motorists off the highway.

The real reason all these people congregate to do such strange things is that steam power is fast becoming extinct. Only a handful of railroads allow steam locomotives to operate on their tracks. Fewer still own their own steam power. The Union Pacific maintains 8444 in its own shops. Rail fans have been assured that the engine has only five to 10 years of life left, so they do everything they can to preserve memories of it.

Originally designed for 120-plus miles-per-hour speeds, the railroad holds her to a sedentary 55 maximum, to save wear-and-tear on irreplaceable mechanical parts. When the last steam mechanic completes his 30 years and retires, the railroad plans to drop 8444's fires, permanently ending a legacy almost as old as America and certainly every bit as traditional.

Until then. train nuts everywhere will continue to make the most of every opportunity to ride, photograph. and simply stand in awe of live steam.

Point of clarification: Article written during 25-year period when Union Pacific #844, a 4-8-4 Northern class F-E-F, wore a fourth digit in its operating number. It was renumbered to 8444 from in 1962 when a diesel was given the three-digit number. The locomotive reverted to its original 844 number in 1987.

Author's Note: UPRR has actually increased usage of Northern 844, and another locomotive, Challenger 3985, during the 20 years since this was written. The locomotives have appeared in railroad celebrations in Sacramento and Los Angeles, Calif.

Published by The Columbia Basin Daily Herald, Scripps-Howard League Newspapers, Moses Lake, WA, 98837