(The Associated Press circulated the following article on June 9.)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The last steam engine ordered by the Union Pacific Railroad is chugging again after a six-year restoration.
The railroad ordered the 844 Steam Engine in 1944 and it remained in service until 1999, when its boiler had deteriorated to the point that only the outer shell could be saved.
The engine then went into the UP Steam Shop, one of the few places left that could handle the task of overhauling its engines, pipes and springs.
“It’s a lost art,” said Steve Lee, manager of the steam program. “These things went out in 1959. Most of the people who worked on these are long gone.”
Lee likened the process to remodeling a house.
“You think it will never get done. And you keep finding more things to fix. But we wanted to do it right. We didn’t want to leave any bolt unloosened,” he said.
Marv Bristow, a former UP engineer, once commanded the machine. “I’ve been on this engine at 80 miles an hour,” he said.
Even in frigid water, he said, the engine’s cabin was always warm and he often had to keep a window open.
Steam engines are also very labor-intensive. They needed to be greased every 100 miles.