(The following story was posted by the Associated Press website on September 16, 2010.)
OMAHA, Neb. – One of Union Pacific’s historic steam locomotives will help deliver the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to Denver later this month as part of a 2,200-mile tour of six states.
The No. 3985 “Challenger” steam locomotive is scheduled to pull the circus train from Speer, Wyo., to Denver on the morning of Sept. 28.
Then the world’s largest operating steam locomotive will continue its tour of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Wyoming. It is scheduled to return home to Cheyenne, Wyo., on Oct. 14.
The “Challenger” locomotive is 122 feed long and weighs more than one million pounds. It also has a hinged frame to help it negotiate curves.