NNG: An 8444 trip to the Sterling wye (semi-hijack)

Greg Monroe Wrote:
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> On a railfan / photo excursion Denver-Sterling
> behind UP 8444 many years ago (early '80s?)
> the rails of the wye where the 8444 was turned
> in Sterling had to be greased to get the tender
> around without de-railing, along with a veeerry
> slow speed and several UP personnel closely
> watching.


Thanks for reminding me, Greg -

I managed to track down some moldy-oldie negatives taken on one of those trips, and spent most of this afternoon scanning and tweaking them.  IIRC, there was more than one 8444 excursion from Denver to Sterling in the early 1980's; the one we rode was on October 3, 1981. The day started out overcast, and the skies stayed pretty dark all morning on the eastward leg of the trip; the first two photos below were taken at Hardin, I'm not sure where the second run-by (third photo) was held.  My old Freedom Train buddy U.P. Joe Passentino and his wife Jody were along as well; at Sterling they introduced my (now-ex) wife Nancy (Jackelopette's mom) to the fireman (Jim?), and IIRC she got a short cab ride to the wye - but not around it:


After lunch a stiff breeze blew the clouds off to the north, so the lighting for the third run-by was much better than at the first two:


As a bonus, I got a fairly good glint shot; this one's for Scott: *


The light remained nearly perfect for the fourth run-by of the day:


. . . and for the fifth and final one:


- Gramps

* Scott claims to not like going-away shots (except when he does).  I hope this one is acceptable . . .



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2020 09:37AM by Russo Loco.