July 9, 2009

We’ve all heard the saying “they don’t make them like they used to anymore...” Usually when that saying is applied to railroading, one thinks of the steam engines of the past. After months of waiting, it was my turn to find the Southern Pacific 4-8-4 number 4449, one of those steam engines. Before getting too far, here’s some history about this particular steam engine from the Friends of the 4449 – www.sp4449.com.

SP 4449 was built in 1941 as a GS-4 "Northern" type locomotive. A 4-8-4 wheel arrangement, she is 110' long, 10' wide and 16' tall. The locomotive and tender weighs 433 tons, and it operates with a boiler pressure of 300 psi. Her eight 80" diameter drivers and unique booster truck can apply 5,500 horsepower to the rails and exceed 100 mph. The only remaining operable "streamlined" steam locomotive of the Art Deco era, this grand Lady of the High Iron pulled Southern Pacific "Daylight" coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until 1955.

I pulled out of Morris just after 8 a.m. and began my trip north to New York Mills. The train was due to leave Fargo around 8 a.m. as well, so I was hoping that my timing would not be off. As I left Parkers Prairie, the text messages started to flood in helping me out with the location of the train. As luck would have it, my timing was perfect.

I arrived in New York Mills just after 9:30 and found my spot on the east side of town. The crossing downtown looked pretty busy, so I decided to find a spot to myself. A text arrived as I pulled over and got out the camera. “South of Frazee” was the update in this latest text from fellow railfan John Fladung, who was keeping tabs on the train’s progress for me (and many others!) After a short wait, I could see a headlight come over the hill followed by one of the greatest whistles I have ever heard! Even though the train was still a mile away and I had only seen and heard it for 10 seconds, I knew this was going to be all kinds of fun! The photo on the right shows the train heading east out of New York Mills.

I climbed down off the roof of my car and quickly threw the camera in the passenger seat. As I got back to Hwy 10, the parade of cars following the train came into view. If you’ve never chased a steam engine before (which I’m guessing most of you have not), these things bring the people out of the woodwork! It was like driving through rush hour traffic as you got up along side the train. The train was moving at a pretty good clip so I didn’t catch up to it until Staples. As I drove into Staples, it was like a parade was coming through or something. All the streets along the tracks were packed with cars, bikes, people, strollers, and even a school bus! The Amtrak Depot in Staples was the first stop for the train; this is where it would grease its drive wheels. As I wasn’t really excited about joining the mob scene at the depot, I decided to head for Lincoln and wait for a shot at the old Hwy 10 overpass. Once I arrived in Lincoln, it was clear that several other railfans had the same idea that I did. After 20 minutes or so, the unmistakable sound of a steam whistle broke the silence. Shortly there after, the clicking of camera shutters began…

Since the day was still young, I decided to keep giving chase in hopes that I might be able to somehow pull off a pacing shot of the locomotive. I finally caught up to the train again between Randall and Little Falls, which didn’t give me much time to give this shot a try. After several unsuccessful attempts, I exited Hwy 10 and got right up next to the locomotive just west of Little Falls.

The train was starting to slow down, “this is my chance!” I said out loud as I began pacing the engine. I crossed my fingers (not literally of course) and started snapping shots hoping for one half way decent one. The shot on the right is the best one of the bunch, not too bad for taking pictures and driving at the same time (totally legal I'm sure...)

Being that I might never see this engine again, I decided to keep the chase going to St. Cloud. I could hear on the scanner that the train was going to stop in St. Cloud for a couple minutes; hopefully this would give me enough time to get back ahead of it. Somehow all the stop lights on Hwy 10 were green, which almost never happens when I’m trying to catch a train. My destination was a curve just east of St. Cloud, right around the corner from the large brick prison next to the highway. I arrived in plenty of time and grabbed my gear for one last shot before heading home. Things got a little tense when a westbound mixed freight came up behind me. The crew of the freight train asked the steam engine crew if the crossing ahead was crawling with people. They replied that it was so the freight train engineer kicked in the dynamic brakes and his train started to slow down. I could hear that the 4449 was departing the depot, however the freight train was still going by me blocking my shot. As fate would have it, the last car of the freight train passed by and the steamer appeared just up the tracks.

With that, I got back in the car and decided to head for home. I spent the day chasing this piece of American history 120 miles, from New York Mills to St. Cloud. This was my first time seeing a steam engine run at 60 mph with a train full of passengers. There were literally thousands of people out watching the Southern Pacific 4449 run through central Minnesota, it was an absolute thrill to be one of them!