At long last, steam on the UP mainline

There are few people sitting along US-85 in northern Colorado, far few than I expected to welcome the Union Pacific’s 844 back to the rails after an absence of several years. No other group joins our party at a rural crossing just south of Greeley. Despite that, today’s chase doesn’t need the excitement that large groups of people create to infuse the air with a crackling energy. It’s enough to know that the Northern is somewhere down the tracks, that it’s hot and under full pressure, and that it is heading our way.

For me, my companions on this chase, and many people in the broader railfanning community, there is more riding on this excursion than just the opportunity to photograph one of the most photogenic locomotives gracing the rails.  Many people I know consider their first introduction to  the 844 for, or its compatriot the 3985, was a formative experience. Furthermore, in its near half-century of operation, the Union Pacific Heritage Program brought steam power to the power with a frequency and geographic thoroughness that far exceeded the abilities of most other operations. The sight and sound of those locomotives breathed life into a latent interest in mechanical engineering or railroading, informed them that history could be interesting for its own sake, gave them a brief window into the wider world.

The Union Pacific’s steam excursions and participation in events like the Cheyenne Frontier Days were so reliable that for many dedicated followers, a periodic brush with the engines began to feel ritualistic. My own home town hosted one of the engines about every two years, on average. After eighteen months or so of nothing but air horns, the mainlines would begin to feel ripe for the interlude of a Hancock long chime. Word of mouth about planned excursions traveled much slower back then, and it was not entirely irrational to hold a small hope that the light and smudge of heat waves we saw at the zenith of the tracks might be something more than the typical freight train. On more than one occasion, that hope was rewarded.

Putting the UP program on hiatus for close to three years, with no clear future for the engines in the program available for the public, had deeper impact than missed opportunities to snap photographs or commune with others who enjoy the rails. For many of us, the Union Pacific engines helped formed something fundamental to our personalities, and seeing the program return to the rails is a weight off of our shoulders.
We pass a few idle hours there beside the crossing, momentarily distracted by the passing of a local freight, consulting the Union Pacific’s Twitter feed to gauge how likely it is that we are actually hearing whistles or seeing smoke in the distance.

The 844 makes steady progress, though, and eventually a trill off in the distance calls us to attention. A few seconds after we can make out the headlight--clean, crisp, independent from its traditional red counterpart. We assume our vantage points, hold our trigger fingers at the ready, retain our breath. We are at the same time paralyzed with anticipation and ready to leap into action. Upon arrival at the next crossing, the whistle is loud  enough to send a tremor through the ground under our feet--what else, other than the earth itself, is so imperious in announcing its jurisdiction over its domain? Five or six seconds brings it close enough that its full form comes into view, roaring and thundering and completely drowning out our volley of clicking shutters.

The 844 is suddenly right beside us, flying down the tracks, so implacable in its momentum that its considerable length is there and then gone in the blink of an eye. Even with hours invested in the encounter, it is a surprise to find ourselves yards from the locomotive’s unbridled power. We abandon our cameras and stand gaping as the smoke settles over us the dew point rises, the sound fades away, all the physical proof of our near-religions experience retreats. As it goes, our disbelief turns into a pure, unbridled joy. We have witnessed a small void being filled in, shared in the first inscription of a new chapter of a long and revered tradition. All is as it should be: The most stalwart bearer of the Union Pacific banner has returned.