Waiting for the Locomotives

On Saturday, May 12, 2007, I stood at the south end of the asphalt just behind the "No Trespassing" sign and waited from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the Vancouver Train Station in Vancouver, Washington for two of the country's most famous steam locomotives to arrive on their way to Tacoma for excursions to Everett and back to Tacoma. The locomotives were the SP 4449 from Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon and the UP 844 from Cheyenne, Wyoming. The locomotives are both Northern class passenger trains, and each has eight 6-foot-8-inch-high driving wheels. UP 844 was built in 1944 and weighs about 455 tons with tender. SP 4449 -- which pulled the Freedom Train during the Bicentennial -- was built in 1941 and weighs about 435 tons with tender. They linked up near the Columbia River Rail Bridge in Kenton. They were pulling UP SD70M; 18 vintage UP Passenger cars. All that five hour wait for about five minutes viewing but I got some great photos! I put one of the photos on my Railroad Bridge waymark.