(The following appeared on the Billings Gazette website on May 11, 2009.)
LARAMIE, Wyo. — The last steam engine built for Union Pacific is about to chug across southern Wyoming on its way to Cheyenne.
The UP 844 locomotive is scheduled to stop in Evanston, Green River and Rock Springs on Monday. On Tuesday, stops are planned in Rawlins, Laramie and Cheyenne.
Early Monday, UP 844 was in Ogden, Utah, to mark the 141st anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
The locomotive was delivered for Union Pacific in 1944. The engine pulled passenger trains at first but in the 1950s was switched to freight duty in Nebraska.
UP 844 is now used for excursion runs on special occasions by Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha.