Union Pacific to give historic locomotive new boiler, new number
Published: April 1, 2014

CHEYENNE, Wyoming. - The Union Pacific Railroad announced today that 4-8-4 No. 844 will undergo two major changes for the 2015 operating season. These changes include a new boiler to replace the original from 1944 and a new number to make way for fall diesel arrivals.

Early press releases state that the new boiler project has been "green-lighted" to replace the 844’s now-70-year-old boiler. In a long term project to allow the steam program to continue through more decades, a brand new boiler will be constructed over fall 2014. Plans anticipate that the boiler would be shipped and installed on the 844 by mid-2015.

Early inspections were made on other surviving UP 4-8-4s, including 838, which shares the Cheyenne roundhouse with the 844 and 4-6-6-4 3985, and 833, based out of Salt Lake City. However, it was determined early on that a new boiler was the better long term solution.

The new boiler would solve any issue that would come up over several decades due to aging steel. The boiler from 838 will be shipped to an unspecified steam locomotive shop on the East Coast, and be thoroughly analyzed and copied to the brand new boiler via Auto-CAD and revolutionary advanced 3D "printing" technology. All these renovations would lead to basically “the last new FEF that UP never bought.”

The remarks of the 844 becoming a “new” locomotive also coincide with a new change in the engine’s numbering. In fall 2014, Union Pacific will receive a total of 50 new SD70ACes. These engines will be numbered 800-849. Consequently, a third new 844 will arrive on the roster. A similar event happened in 1962, when an order of GP30's also were numbered in the 800 series. To prevent redundancy on the roster in 1962, the 844 was renumbered to “8444”. Presently, an SD70ACe numbered 8444 is on the UP roster. Management has decided to avoid renumbering confusion once and for all with a new number of “84444.” The new number is already affectionately referred to as “Eight Four Fours.” The new longer number reflects the locomotive’s major change both in its place on the Union Pacific and internal changes.

The original Union Pacific 844 was constructed by the American Locomotive Company in July 1944. It was used in dual freight and passenger service until 1956. The locomotive was operated through 1959 in snow blower service, clearing ice out of frozen switches. The engine was placed in storage rather than retirement in 1959, becoming the only mainline steam locomotive to never be retired from a Class 1 Railroad. Since 1961, engine 844 has been used for fan trips and as a goodwill ambassador for the Union Pacific public relations.

While the new changes to the historic 4-8-4 are radical, they are integral to preserve the engine’s future operation. The UP Steam Crew is optimistic about the operation of “84444” and new rebuild 4-8-8-4 4014 by the end of the decade. It’s a new change to the steam operation, cited as “a decade for the fours.”

While this story's entirely plausible, I have my suspicions about its veracity given that preserved UP 4-8-4 #833 is actually in Ogden, Utah, rather than Salt Lake City...

04/01/14

I also heard the Union Pacific is having a new 4-4-0 built at the Strasburg shops for UP 150

I had heard that the new boiler was indeed going to be fabricated to the "last FEF' standards -- the FEF4, with the four stacks, now all upgraded to appropriately scaled-down versions of Nigel Day's Lempor design for 3985. Construction is due to begin at Meiningen, but it appears the UP site engineers have been caught in a catch-22 since the fall as they have been unable to register on healthcare.gov from overseas for coverage on their preexistent ophthalmologic conditions, their dogs remain in quarantine, and their canes are not accepted metric standard for use in Germany.

I'd thought that the new number was being referred to as 'Eight forty-four forty-four' -- but that leads to an update of the old joke -- radio call "This is four-eight-four eight-forty-four-forty-four... tha-tha, tha-tha-that's all, folks!!!"

This!

CD

Will the new boiler have fillet-welded staybolts?

(Scurrying for cover)

This post was the inspiration of fellow rail archivist (and longtime lurker here) Jonathan Eau Claire, who also created the graphic that accompanies it. I simply posted it on his behalf, adding an item of fancy or two.