Russo Loco Wrote:
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> Hi, Greg -
>
> The trip had been announced by the RMRRC - and the
> U.P. - as the last run of #844 prior
> to her retirement. Thankfully, the
> railroad's decision was reversed soon after, and
> #844(4)
> has been in more-or-less continuous service for
> the past fifty years!!
Russ, your trip of 11/20/1960 was historic for other reasons.
(1) It was only the second such fantrip for the 844. The first was in combination with 826 in June of 1958. 844 ran Green River to Ogden..
(2) It was the first steam excursion on the Union Pacific after the end of regular service steam operations.
There were no steam excursions in 1959. July saw the last regular steam.
>
> And of course you are welcome to use any of my
> shots on the covers of your excellent videos.
> Your "Great Steam Trains Combo" arrived a
> couple of days ago - along with several others -
> and I watched part one that evening. The sequence
> of N&W #611 stalling at Peebles, Ohio, and then
> VERY slowly getting underway again is FANTASTIC -
> one of the best RR videos I've ever seen!
Yes that 611 segment was pretty rare. I had never seen a situation like this before where a mainline train had the rails sanded by hand to get it started.
The other rare thing in that video is the CPR 4-4-0 #29. Nils Huxtable and I were up there and got them to run it. Turns out it never turned a wheel after that day, and is now on display in front of the CP headquarters in Calgary. I have had the dubious distinction to have shot engines making their final runs in the past. Two others that come to mind are Whitewater Valley engine in 1988, and ex Reading T1 4-8-4 2101 in 1978. So, you never know when the last time might be for a locomotive. Glad you liked the variety in the video Russ. Thanks again for the help on the 1968 NG show.
Greg Scholl
