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Stop by No. 8444
churns memories
No. 8444 looked like it turned off at the wrong
track in 1932.
It roared and blew steam and whistled long and
low and rolled along the tracks into Lincoln.
The old steam engine, the last one ordered by
Union Pacific in 1944, caught the fancy of hundreds
of citizens.
They lined the roads along the track and packed
the small UP railyard under the West 0 Street
viaduct.
It looked out of place and time, and the people
who came to see it wanted some remembrance of
the machine.
They held tape recorders up to catch the sound of
the steam whistle and the chug-chug of the engine.
They photographed it from every conceivable angle.
No. 8444 was pulling a load of dignitaries to the
World's Fair in New Orleans.
Dale Mohlman, a UP freight agent, said the attrac
tion was in the memories No. 8444 brought to older
people, and in the curiousity it created in younger
dnes.
"This is the first time some people have seen a
steam engine, and it's probably the last time many
people will see one."
Jim Fitzpatrick, a fireman on No. 8444, gave a
different reason for the train's popularity.
. "It's the romance of it," he said.
Fitzpatrick, who has been working on No. 81 4 4 for
three years, said a steam engine takes more care
and involvement from its crew than a new diesel
one. He an.d several other crew members ran water
from a fire hose into the train's water car and
greased the huge steel wheels during the train's
40-minute stop Sunday morning.
As the train prepared to leave, people began walk
ing along the tracks to watch it as long as they could.
Mohlman said cars lined the road waiting for the
train's arrival at Cortland later that day.
Although No. 8444 is out of time, as long as it runs,
it won't be out of fans.
Stciy and Photos
by
Chris Velsch
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Top: The crowd mills around No.
8444. Center: The stear.i engine rolls
toward the UP etsdea. "This photo
was taken near the Kunkipal air
port. Bottom left: Children climbing
on the engine while it w&3 stopped.
Bottom riht: The end.
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