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Business News
Eastern Jackson County, MO —
It’s still unclear if a historic locomotive will make a return pass through the metro area in the next few days.
Union Pacific’s steam engine No. 844, used in the 1940s and ’50s for fast passenger service, rolled through Independence, Buckner and Levasy in March, pulling several passenger cars on a goodwill tour from No. 844’s base in Cheyenne, Wyo., to events in Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Those events have been held over the last several weeks. At one point, No. 844 had some mechanical issues – flat spots on a handful of wheels that had to be painstakingly repaired – and another old locomotive, the E-9 Steamliner, briefly took its place. No. 844 is back in action, at a festival this weekend in El Reno, Okla.
By next Thursday, No. 844 is scheduled to be at an event in Council Bluffs, Iowa., which suggests, based on past practice, the train might pass through the Kansas City area to get there. A couple of years ago, one of the UP’s two old steam engines came in on the busy tracks that briefly run along Noland Road in Independence, and last year the railroad used a line up through eastern Kansas. The railroad generally will put the train on display at Union Station at least for some time, but a company spokesman this week said a schedule for the rest of the trip was still being worked out, and as of late Friday it had not yet been posted on the company’s website.
On July 2, the Union Pacific celebrates its sesquicentenial. The No. 844 goodwill tour is part of those ongoing celebrations.
Check the No. 844 schedule at http://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/index.shtml
It’s still unclear if a historic locomotive will make a return pass through the metro area in the next few days.
Union Pacific’s steam engine No. 844, used in the 1940s and ’50s for fast passenger service, rolled through Independence, Buckner and Levasy in March, pulling several passenger cars on a goodwill tour from No. 844’s base in Cheyenne, Wyo., to events in Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Those events have been held over the last several weeks. At one point, No. 844 had some mechanical issues – flat spots on a handful of wheels that had to be painstakingly repaired – and another old locomotive, the E-9 Steamliner, briefly took its place. No. 844 is back in action, at a festival this weekend in El Reno, Okla.
By next Thursday, No. 844 is scheduled to be at an event in Council Bluffs, Iowa., which suggests, based on past practice, the train might pass through the Kansas City area to get there. A couple of years ago, one of the UP’s two old steam engines came in on the busy tracks that briefly run along Noland Road in Independence, and last year the railroad used a line up through eastern Kansas. The railroad generally will put the train on display at Union Station at least for some time, but a company spokesman this week said a schedule for the rest of the trip was still being worked out, and as of late Friday it had not yet been posted on the company’s website.
On July 2, the Union Pacific celebrates its sesquicentenial. The No. 844 goodwill tour is part of those ongoing celebrations.
Check the No. 844 schedule at http://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/index.shtml
