|
|
|
Independence, MO —
A bit of railroad history is returning to the area, but you’ll have to be quick to get a glimpse of it. This time around, there’s no trip through Eastern Jackson County.
The Union Pacific’s historic steam engine No. 844 is at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this weekend, and on Monday it makes an overnight stop at Union Station in Kansas City. It leaves Des Moines at 8 a.m., makes three stops and then arrives at Union Station at 3:30 p.m. It’s fairly easy to park close to the train and walk up to it and take pictures. The company also says visitors can step aboard a baggage car that’s been transformed into a rolling museum, with exhibits similar to the ones at the UP’s museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
At 8 a.m. Tuesday, the train heads out for Topeka and points west, making more than a dozen stops in Kansas and Colorado before arriving Saturday in Cheyenne, Wyo., where it’s housed and maintained.
The railroad is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. No. 844 is one of two old steam engines that it sends out on goodwill excursions, and it’s been busy this year. It passed Independence, Buckner and Levasy on its way to St. Louis, then south into Arkansas, in March. The railroad took delivery of No. 844 in 1944 – its last steam locomotive – and used it until 1959, mostly for high-speed passenger service.
When the train is rolling, the railroad has been consistent about posting location updates on Twitter. Follow @UP_Steam.
A bit of railroad history is returning to the area, but you’ll have to be quick to get a glimpse of it. This time around, there’s no trip through Eastern Jackson County.
The Union Pacific’s historic steam engine No. 844 is at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this weekend, and on Monday it makes an overnight stop at Union Station in Kansas City. It leaves Des Moines at 8 a.m., makes three stops and then arrives at Union Station at 3:30 p.m. It’s fairly easy to park close to the train and walk up to it and take pictures. The company also says visitors can step aboard a baggage car that’s been transformed into a rolling museum, with exhibits similar to the ones at the UP’s museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
At 8 a.m. Tuesday, the train heads out for Topeka and points west, making more than a dozen stops in Kansas and Colorado before arriving Saturday in Cheyenne, Wyo., where it’s housed and maintained.
The railroad is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. No. 844 is one of two old steam engines that it sends out on goodwill excursions, and it’s been busy this year. It passed Independence, Buckner and Levasy on its way to St. Louis, then south into Arkansas, in March. The railroad took delivery of No. 844 in 1944 – its last steam locomotive – and used it until 1959, mostly for high-speed passenger service.
When the train is rolling, the railroad has been consistent about posting location updates on Twitter. Follow @UP_Steam.
