Vintage steam train to travel through county
By DAILY CHRONICLE
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| This photo from the Friends of the 4449 shows the restored steam locomotive, Southern Pacific 4449, which will pull vintage passenger cars through northern Illinois on July 18. (Provided photo.) |
Steam train lovers should head to the south part of the county on July 18 if they would like to see a restored locomotive pulling railcars with similar histories.
The Daylight Special, a private passenger train pulled by Southern Pacific’s massive steam locomotive 4449, will travel through northern Illinois on its way from Minneapolis to Chicago.
Pulling vintage passenger cars, SP 4449 will run the route of the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, now BNSF, through Rochelle, Steward, Lee, Waterman and Hinckley. The excursion is one leg of a 5,000-mile journey for the restored Southern Pacific locomotive, making its way across the country from Portland, Ore., to Owosso, Mich., for Train Festival 2009.
The train will leave Minneapolis at 8 a.m., is scheduled to be in Savanna at approximately 2 p.m. and will arrive in Union Station before nightfall. The special passenger excursion will be sharing the rail line with regular freight service, so delays are possible, according to a recent news release.
There are no scheduled extended stops – and roadways along the route are expected to be filled with chasers and photographers angling for the perfect shot of this magnificent locomotive, the release said.
Southern Pacific “Daylight” steam locomotive 4449 is operated by the Friends of SP 4449, a Portland, Ore., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration, maintenance and operation of the former Southern Pacific 4-8-4 steam locomotive.
The July 18 passenger trip is operated by the Friends of the 261 of Minneapolis. A limited number of tickets still may be available for this trip or for the return trip Aug. 2-3 via Milwaukee. Ticket information can be found atwww.261.com. In October, SP 4449 will pull fall-color steam excursions from Minneapolis to Winona, Minn., and Winona to La Crescent. Tickets for these trips are still available in first, premium and coach class at www.261.com or by calling 651-765-9812 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The release said No. 4449 was built in May 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, for Southern Pacific. It is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific’s GS-4 class of streamlined steam locomotives. No. 4449 spent its early career assigned to the Coast Daylight, SP’s premier passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Together, SP 4449 and its water tender weigh 433 tons. The oil-burning locomotive is 110 feet long, rides on 80-inch driving wheels and weighs 475,000 pounds.
SP 4449 was retired in 1957 and placed on display in Oaks Park in Portland, Ore. In 1974, it was removed from the park, restored and returned to service in 1975 traveling the United States pulling the American Freedom Train.
