(The following appeared on the Muskogee Phoenix website on March 23, 2010.)
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Union Pacific Railroad’s historic steam locomotive, No. 844, will stop in Muskogee on April 8.
A UP spokeswoman said the train will stop at the Martin Luther King crossing for servicing about 11:30 a.m. and depart at 12:01 p.m.
No. 844 was the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad and was delivered in 1944. A passenger locomotive, it pulled such trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.
When diesel-electric locomotives took over all passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was held for special service in 1960.
A Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) transmitter was installed on No. 844. The GPS system has been integrated with a map on UP’s Web site www.up.com. Enter “Steam” in the search box on the homepage. GPS updates are available at http://twitter.com/UP_Steam.