Union Pacific 4-8-4 to Visit Omaha and Council Bluffs June 20 & 21
OMAHA, Neb. – Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 will visit Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, as part of the railroad days celebration. The event occurs June 20 and 21. Your whole family can board the train for only $10. This will be an event of a life time for you and your children together to truly experience the golden era of the steam locomotive passenger service, for only $10! Even in today’s economy, that is a tough deal to pass up.
Omaha was the launching point for the new Union Pacific as part of its effort to complete a transcontinental railroad. The railroad days will celebrate the area’s rich railroad heritage. For more information, visit www.omaharailroaddays.com.
No. 844 will be on display both days at the Durham Museum. Visitors will be able to look inside the engine’s operating cab.
You can follow the Union Pacific 844 after being requested to host the opening of the new Dispatch Center in Omaha and pull the Union Pacific Railroad Board of Directors on a special dinner train in this 1989 video. The passenger coaches are already in Omaha, so 844 pulls regular freight trains 500 miles over a two day span to Omaha. Then at Omaha we see 844 pull the evening dinner train, with some nice low light shots.
After the event is over, 844 has to head home to Cheyenne and pulls two more freight trains over a 2-day span, making for a total of 5 different trains on the video, and 4 are freights complete with a caboose. On the return we are also treated to some nice 65 mph pacing scenes next to the engine. You’ll enjoy the Nebraska landscape as we hit the major spots along the way, and even see 844 on the turntable in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This was the first run of 844, and GSVP was the only video company there.
The Union Pacific Railroad maintains the only steam locomotive that was never retired, No. 844. Built by Alco in 1944, it has been rebuilt twice, in 1999 and 2004. It is currently the largest running Northern weighing in at 486,340 pounds. www.scenicrailexcursions.com/wyoming_trainrides.php
