Union Pacific 844

For years, I've told Terri about how much I like steam trains, but we've never seen one together. She's graciously humored me and accepted my enthusiasm; it was one of those quirks of mine that she has learned to live with.

This last weekend, Union Pacific 844 came through Fort Worth on its way to the Rio Grande Valley. UP 844 has been in continuous service since it was delivered in 1944, and for forty years it's been an 'ambassador of goodwill' doing excursion runs throughout the United States. Wiki has a page about 844 and Union Pacific has more information and a schedule.

We looked up the route and found some places to view it in action. Friday afternoon would be perfect: the 4-8-4 (called a 'Northern') would steam into Fort Worth by crossing the Trinity River about a mile from our apartment. There were a dozen or so railfans at the spot near E. Northside Drive as we waited and waited. We knew there had been rail traffic delays, but apparently it had gotten so bad that they rerouted the train at the last minute, and we saw it off in the distance crossing a different bridge.

Friday evening we went to the rail yard near Vickery and Rogers and got to see the train parked for the night. There was quite a crowd admiring the enormous locomotive, and it was a treat to be able to get so close to it. One of the cars in the train was a mobile gift shop, where Terri bought me a coffee mug and souvenir pin.

But this was not enough. Terri decided we needed to get up early the next morning and catch the train on its way south. We set the alarm for 7:15 a.m. (very early for us) and headed to southeast Fort Worth, to Bisbee Street paralleling the Mansfield Highway. Right on time, about a quarter to 9, we heard the whistle and saw the train coming down the mainline, doing about 50 m.p.h.

I got a couple of decent snapshots, but Terri got a great video of 844:



Terri is now hooked on steam trains and is already plotting how we can see another one.