844’s Big Adventure
ON APRIL 16, 2012, UNION PACIFIC 4-8-4 NO. 844 slid its drivers at Mount Pleasant, Texas, while pulling the UP 150 Express, flattening all eight wheels. Reportedly, the big Northern’s diesel helper, SD70ACe No. 1982, did not throttle back while the train was slowing for a stop, sliding 844’s drivers and creating flat spots so severe that the locomotive was pulled off the train. The executive E units, which were in the area on an office car special, were substituted for the 1944 Alco and the UP 150 Express tour con- tinued behind the diesels. With the locomotive hundreds of
miles from its maintenance base in Cheyenne, Wyo., on April 19 UP moved 844 with its support cars under its own power to the Georgetown Rail- road car shop at Georgetown, Texas, which has a large enough drop table for the steam locomotive’s drivers to be removed. Two sets of
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum
MUSEUM WILL LEAVE PORTLAND: The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum has decided to move from its longtime venue on the Portland waterfront to a new site in the town of Gray, located on Interstate 95 about 15 miles north of the present location. The museum plans to lay track on the former Portland- Lewiston Interurban right of way, which is cur-
24 JULY 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM
wheels apiece were shipped to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania, which have lathes large enough to true them. The 4-8-4 crossed the Brushy Creek bridge at Round Rock, Texas, (above) on UP’s DX2 lead near the Georgetown Railroad interchange on April 19. Mr. Murphy struck again at George-
town when 844’s support cars rolled into a passing GRR train on April 20. Former storage mail boxcar No. 9336 sustained considerable damage (left) but there were no injuries. No. 844’s layoff and recuperation proved to be surprisingly short. The
wheels were machined and returned to Georgetown, the locomotive was reassembled, and it was back at the head end of the UP 150 Express by May 2, this time accompanied by the executive E’s.
rently unused and owned by Central Maine Power, and will lease property in Gray for the museum and a restoration building. The museum’s landlord in Portland, the Sprague Family Trust, wants to sell the muse- um’s current Fore Street site for $20 million, which is unaffordable. The museum has ex- plored serveral options for a new location, in- cluding one in Portland, but has decided that the Gray site is the best option.
Norfolk Southern
BELLEVUE YARD TO BE SUPERSIZED: Norfolk Southern has announced that it will nearly double the size of the former Norfolk & Western classification yard in Bellevue, Ohio. The project will include 38 new tracks for a total of 80, which will allow the modern hump yard’s throughput to rise from 1800 to 3600 cars a day. When the project is completed in
TWO PHOTOS: GLENN ANDERSON
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