(The following appeared on The Columbian website on October 19, 2009.)
COLUMBIA, Wash. — The Southern Pacific 4449 steam train won’t stop in Vancouver this afternoon, but it will pass by the Amtrak station in downtown Vancouver about 5:15 p.m.
“This is one of the most popular locomotives in the world,” said Gus Melonas, spokesman for BNSF Railway.
Using its own steam power, but with a more modern locomotive behind it in case of mechanical problems, SP 4449 is pulling 13 vintage passenger cars.
It’s returning to Portland from a train festival in Owosso, Mich., west of Flint, home of the Steam Railroading Institute Visitor Center & Museum.
Built in 1941, the locomotive was retired in 1955. Its main duty was pulling passenger cars on the Southern Pacific’s daylight run from Los Angeles to Portland, Melonas said.