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OK - again it is time for another story, only this time it will be told with mostly photos and little text. Today, Union Pacific had a steam locomotive come through southern Arizona on the tracks that parallel Interstate - 10. I don't know exactly why they are doing it, perhaps a public relations attempt, but the event was well attended both in Benson and in Willcox. I mentioned to my boss that this was happening and he decided that this event is something that we should be in attendance at. How often do you actually get to see a steam locomotive in action? We drove down to Willcox early enough to catch it coming into town. If you go to UPsteam.com there is a GPS transmitter on the train that you can track on a map to determine its currently location. We headed about 10 miles east of Willcox and caught it coming into town. From talking to the people in Willcox later it was traveling about 60-70 mph here in this photo. |
| I admit that I am not an expert on steam locomotives but from their website, "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. Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra '4' was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired. When diesels took over all of the passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was saved from being scrapped in 1960 and held for special service. The engine has run hundreds of thousands of miles as Union Pacific's ambassador of goodwill. It has made appearances at Expo '74 in Spokane, the 1981 opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Los Angeles Union Station in 1989. "Living Legend," the engine is widely known among railroad enthusiasts for its excursion runs, especially over Union Pacific's fabled crossing of Sherman Hill between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming." |  |
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Statistics: Weight: 907,980 lbs. or 454 tons Engine & Tender Length: 114 ft. 2-5/8 in. Engine & Tender Tender Type: 14-wheeled Water Capacity: 23,500 gallons Fuel: 6,200 gallons, No. 5 oil Gauge of Track: 4 ft. 8-1/2 in. Cylinder: Diameter: 25 in., Stroke: 32 in. Driving Wheel Diameter: 80 in. Boiler: Inside Diameter: 86 - 3/16", 300psi. Fire Box: Length: 150-1/32", Width: 96-3/16" Tubes: 2-1/4" Diameter: 198 x 19 ft. Wheel Base: Driving: 22', Engine: 50'-11", Engine & Tender: 98 ft. 5 in. |
Weight in Working Order: Evaporating Surfaces: Superheating Surface: Maximum Tractive Power: Factor of Adhesion:
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From talking to the maintenance people, they have to stop the train every 30ish miles for additional grease. They would grease the main drive assembly and did so in both Willcox and Benson. They had a pneumatic grease gun, but I would imagine that this work would be rather tiresome if you had to do it manually and for a living. Somehow I don't think that the locomotives while in service received quite this much attention. |
| The black cowling around the front of the boiler is known as "smoke lifters", and it is supposed to funnel the air around the boiler and carry the smoke from the fuel source up and away from the driver/operators. According to the "engineer" running this engine, it can do up to about 100 mph, but they don't like to take it much above 70mph. From when it left Willcox, I was in a car trying to beat it to Dragoon, and in fact I couldn't. We missed it there, but caught up to it again in Benson. The tracks do a lot of meandering through Texas Canyon and I suspect that is why we were able to over take it in on the way to Benson. I have often thought that it would be a neat experience to ride a train across country if for no other reason as you would see very different parts of the world that you can from a vehicle just because the tracks and the roads aren't always parallel. |  |
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Here it is pulling into Benson. The locomotive is considerably dirtier that when it left Willcox, and I suspect that this was normal for the engine rather than the pristine black paint that is normally shown in movies. While standing around and gawking at the engine, you were constantly being rained upon from the condensation of the steam. Also once it started moving again, there were copious amounts of oil, grease, puddles of water from where it was resting. |
| From the operators of the unit, the last time that it was in Arizona was in 1977, but I don't know the reason for the visit. After being around one of them and witnessing its massive machinery it is not hard to realize why there are so many enthusiasts around. Twice I was standing next to the track when it passed, and you could feel the heat coming off of the boiler when it went by. It was quite an experience being that close to a piece of history going down the tracks. From the years listed above, many of the older people present were also around when these types of engines were common to see pulling loads down the tracks. I managed to capture two videos of this train: the first is of it leaving from Willcox station (now city hall) and the second is of it coming into Benson. I hope that they work for you. |  |
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This story is better told by Terra, but yesterday Terra was working on the computer and Rachel was coming and going as is normal. Terra was carrying on conversations with her as she usually does, then Terra went into the other room for something, and found this sight on the floor. |
| Rachel had decided to "get a hair cut like the boys" had. She took the scissors and started trimming. Terra talked to her about the pro's and con's of cutting your own hair, and then took her into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. She said, "It looks terrible". Then Terra took her down to the local hair cutting place of business, and they told Terra that this was really an un-fixable cut, and her best bet was to let it grow out for 6-months and then come back in. |  |
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Hopefully Rachel has learned her lesson and wont be trying to do this any time soon. We haven't yet cut her hair to straighten it out, for some reason we are fairly busy, but in the near future, Rachel will end up with close to what she really wanted in the first place, a hair cut like the boys... |