(The following story by James Dornbrook appeared on The Examiner website on January 15.)
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — The world’s largest operating steam engine is on its way to Jackson County.
Owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, Challenger No. 3985 is in the middle of a nine state, 3,500-mile tour from Cheyenne, Wyo., to the Super Bowl in Houston, Texas.
The 122-foot-long articulated locomotive was originally built in 1943 for fast freight service. It was retired in 1959 and restored to operating condition by Union Pacific employee volunteers in 1981.
The engine is so massive it required a hinged frame, allowing it to negotiate curves. It weighs more than 1 million pounds, has six-foot diameter drive wheels and can reach a top speed of 70 mph.
The train left Cheyenne on Monday, and will briefly stop at Union Station in Kansas City from 1 p.m. today, until it leaves at 8 a.m. Thursday. The train will head east down the Santa Fe line just south of the Missouri River, and should be on its way through Sugar Creek at about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.
People should be able to see the train as it crosses M-291 south of the Missouri river, and as it heads through Atherton and Sibley on its way to Marshall for an engine service stop.
The train will then head toward St. Louis via Jefferson City. It will reach Houston on Jan. 23 and be on display there until Feb. 3.
After the Super Bowl, the Challenger will head back to Cheyenne. It will reach Kansas City again at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8, and will be on public display from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, at Union Station. It will leave at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10.
For more information, pictures of the locomotive, and a map of its route, check out www.up.com.