I sat around at Tower 17 from about 2:15 till about 4pm. I saw a few other guys standing around so I figured I hadn't missed it. When we left, we stopped at a Dairy Queen for some ice cream. We then went by the Amtrak station, and there it was. Somehow I missed it. Oh well. I'm off work tomorrow so I'll try and get some pics.
Well, it turns out they made really good time across southeast Texas. They got to Amtrak station at 1:30 instead of 3:01 as advertised in their scedule. To be fair to UP, they did say times "will be approximate with the E-9". We waited near Eureka Yard for about an hour. Had my iPad with me and I saw a post on UP's Facebook page. A fan said it wasn't at Eagle Lake at 2:30 so we decided to check the station. The UP guys (and the Houston Police) were nice and let us take a couple pictures.
Turns out the train is leaving tonight, and not later in the week as originally planned. Oh well, I got a few nice pictures!
Evidently they tried to chock the wheels instead of setting the hand brakes. Obviously that did not work. The tool car and the water tenders took off on their own until the tool car was impaled on a rock gondola. Gives new meaning to the saying "Between a rock and a hard place."
What would be cool is if the 844 pulled a revenue freight to meet up with the 150 tour wherever it ends up. I don't know when the last time UP used 3985 or 844 for that purpose.
Just posted on the Trains News Wire.... [h=1]UP 844 repaired, will rejoin anniversary train[/h]Published: May 1, 2012 [TABLE] [TR] [TD]FORT WORTH, Texas – Repairs have been completed on Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 at the Georgetown Railroad shop in Georgetown, Texas, and the locomotive will rejoin the UP’s 150th anniversary special train in Hearne, Texas tomorrow. The locomotive was at the Georgetown shop because the short line had a drop table large enough to enable removal of the steam engines 80-inch drivers. The wheels were sent out to contractors to repair flat spots incurred last month during the 844’s tour through Texas. UP spokesperson Raquel Espinoza told Trains News Wire that the anniversary train with 844 leading is scheduled to depart Hearne and travel to Fort Worth tomorrow morning. The train will then head to El Reno, Okla., to participate in that community’s “Fried Onion Burger Day Festival.” No. 844 will arrive in El Reno on May 3, and the steam engine will be on display May 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with the railroad’s Promontory history car and a souvenir car.[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
I don't see it in the consist. This was taken by a friend in Hearne today. Now they have three diesels to push it.
If the wheels were sent to Chattannooga for turning, the trucking company must have a lot of embarrassing negatives of highway patrol officers between Texas and Tennessee, because the driver obviously was flying low. :tb-ooh:
