Union Pacific 844 Locomotive

On Friday, April 23, Melanie and I spent most of our day following the Union Pacific 844 from Knoxville, AR to Van Buren, AR. The steam locomotive was built in 1944 and was originally engineered to pull 26 cars at up to 120 mph. The train was retired, but later restored and brought back into service. Union Pacific last moved the train through Arkansas in 1984 on its way to the Worlds Fair in St. Louis.

It was an impressive sight to see and the roar of this locomotive barreling down the tracks was even more awe inspiring. We were able to catch it at Knoxville, Hartman, Ozark, and again in Van Buren. We had a great time (well, Melanie did for the first four hours). Enjoy the pics. You can see additional pics on our www.flickr.com page by clicking one of the flickr photos in the upper right corner of the blog.

UP 844 sitting at the station in Van Buren, AR.
UP 844 barreling down the track at Knoxville, AR.

UP 844 at the crossing in Hartman, AR.