YATES CENTER — Skip Becker, like the nearly 200 other onlookers who gathered Sunday morning, could only gaze in awe as the hulking black behemoth of iron and steel unleashed another torrent of steam.
No. 844 was about to leave town.
Sunday’s visit by No. 844, the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific and the only one not to be officially retired by the rail giant, stopped by the Durand Rail Yard just east of Yates Center as part of its Valley Eagle Heritage Tour, which took it from Cheyenne Wyo., to the southern tip of Texas. No. 844 is headed back to Cheyenne.
“Trains are a part of my history, too,” Becker said, noting that as she grew up in the East, she frequently traveled via rail with her family.
A large crowd was on hand at the Durand station to greet the train as it rolled in about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. A number of passengers, media members and area dignitaries rode along from Coffeyville to the Durand stop. They unloaded before the train backed up about 100 yards in order for the locomotive to be serviced.
Meanwhile, the crowd steadily grew as dozens of folks snapped pictures of the steam locomotive. Occasional blasts of steam and toots of the horn from No. 844 added to the spectacle.
And at the stroke of 10:30, No. 844 headed to points north, making a whistle stop in Paola before stopping in Kansas City, Mo.’s Union Station overnight. It will remain on display there today before heading to Topeka, Marysville and North Platte, Neb., before arriving back in Cheyenne Thursday afternoon.
No. 844’s progress can be tracked via Facebook and Twitter at www.face-book.com/unionpacific and www.twitter.com/UP_Steam.
BUILT IN 1944, No. 844 was used primarily for passenger service across the Northwest, pulling such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.
The locomotive was reassigned to haul primarily freight in the late 1950s as diesel electric locomotives took over the rails.
No. 844 was saved from being scrapped along with most of the other steam locomotives in 1960, instead being selected for restoration. The locomotive is now used primarily on company and public excursion trips.
Weighing in at 907,980 pounds or 454 tons, No. 844 runs on fuel oil-powered steam boilers and is designed to safely handle as many as 26 passenger cars at speeds exceeding 100 mph. The locomotive’s top speed can exceed 120 mph.
Also known as Union Pacific’s “Living Legend,” No. 844 returned to service in 2005 after one of the most extensive steam locomotive overhauls in the United States since regular steam service ended. The work, which started in 2000, 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 also was refurbished.
