(The following story by Dan Feldner appeared on the Minot Daily News website on July 7, 2009.)
MINOT, N.D. — A mechanical marvel from a different age steamed into Minot Tuesday evening, evoking images from a simpler past when riding the rails held an undeniable mystique.
One of the few engines on the rails today to be powered by steam instead of diesel, the Southern Pacific 4449 “Daylight” drew dozens of people to the Minot Amtrak Station to catch a glimpse of one of the most famous steam engines in the world. One of three steam-powered locomotives owned by the City of Portland, the SP 4449 is in the midst of a 5,000-mile round-trip journey from its home in Portland, Ore., to Owosso, Mich., for Train Festival 2009 at the end of July.
According to information provided by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, this, the largest railroad event of the past 10 years, will feature eight operating steam locomotives, and is expected to draw 35,000 people. The SP 4449 will be the only representative from west of the Mississippi River.
The festival will also feature vintage and modern diesel-electric locomotives, train rides, huge model train layouts, miniature train rides, art exhibits, locomotive cab tours, railroad vendors and more.
With a distinctive art deco nose, the SP 4449 easily stands out from other more modern locomotives. Produced in May 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works, the engine was retired in 1957 and donated to the City of Portland.
It was given the name “Daylight” because it was part of a fleet of fast day-trains between Los Angeles and San Francisco that Southern Pacific Railroad introduced in the late 1930s.
“Many people, this is the first time they’ve actually seen the steam locomotive in operation, and the general consensus is that people are amazed at how it’s nostalgic yet also futuristic,” said Gus Melonas, BNSF spokesperson, in a telephone interview.
The train, which is operated by a three-person crew consisting of an engineer, fireman and pilot, will run on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Hi-Line route from Portland to Chicago, where it will then interchange with another rail carrier to go onto Michigan, according to Melonas.
“The steam locomotive will power the train. It also has an Amtrak assist diesel locomotive, but the steam locomotive has been pulling the train its entire journey and is functioning without … missing a beat,” Melonas said.
The train will reach speeds as high as 70 mph, and has 11 passenger coaches from various vintage eras.
Melonas noted that people are taking advantage of the opportunity to see the train in action by the droves, whether it be in a depot or alongside the tracks.
“Hundreds and hundreds of spectators have lined BNSF’s railway, shooting photos, waving flags in excitement as this train has travelled by,” Melonas said. “There have been people in boats, people in trees, there were some loggers up in trees that were anxiously watching, waving, people on roofs, farmers, folks in the city, busses honking their horns. It’s created just a tremendous amount of excitement.”
He said that as the steam engine left Wolf Point, Mont., a caravan of over 75 vehicles was following along the train’s route. Melonas noted this is believed to be the first steam-powered excursion with passengers in over 50 years on the BNSF Hi-Line route.
Two locomotive fans from Minnesota got up early Tuesday and drove all the way to Minot just to get a look at the SP 4449.
Randy Koch of Mora, Minn., and his friend Brian Bernstein of Maple Grove, Minn., got up at 5:30 a.m. and drove all day to reach Minot in time to see the train pull into the station. They will spend the night in town before following the train back to Minneapolis today.
For Koch, trains have been a lifelong love that began with the encouragement of his father.
“I’ve always liked trains, I guess. My father used to take me out on train trips when I was young. We’d go looking around at real trains in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia,” Koch said. “It’s just still kind of something I enjoy doing.”
While Koch has seen other steam engines in person before, he’s never seen the SP 4449. Although this was the first time Koch saw the train, he still knew plenty about it.
“It’s one of the reasons I came out to see it, it’s definitely something different. It’s an oil-fired steam engine, as opposed to coal. It still operates the same as a conventional steam engine, it’s just how the boiler is fired,” Koch said. “It was much easier to transport oil in the west as opposed to coal, so the western railroads went with oil-fired steam engines.”
As with Koch, trains have been a lifelong love for Bernstein, who said they both go way back collecting train memorabilia. Although some people might wince at the prospect of a day-long drive just to see a train, it doesn’t matter to Bernstein as long as there’s a train to be seen and a friend to see it with.
“(It’s) a long drive. Six hundred and some miles today. We left at 5:30 this morning,” Bernstein said. “It’s all right until you run into traffic.”
It’s this type of passion that Melonas loves to see from people who come out to meet the train. He also noted that while being excited to see the train up close is great, people should first and foremost be careful not to get too close.
“It’s a tremendous amount of excitement,” Melonas said. “We encourage that the public come out and view this, a rare event, and maintain a safe distance from the railroad tracks.”