Union Pacific 844 - South Central Express Heritage Tour part one
In 2006 Union Pacific (UP) Railroad ran the South Central Express Heritage Tour (SCEHT) featuring steam locomotive UP 844. Over thirty-six days, the tour spanned nine states from April 27, 2006, to June 1, 2006. I departed St. Louis, Missouri, and went to Claremore, Oklahoma, to chase UP 844 from Claremore north to Kansas City, Missouri. UP 844 on display at Claremore, OK. The SCEHT left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 27, 2006. I caught up with the train after it had traveled through the states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas before passing back through Oklahoma on the return leg of its trip. In the early evening of May 27, 2006, I arrived in Claremore and found UP 844 parked along UP's Wagoner Subdivision, just south of West Blue Star Drive (milepost (MP) 610.43). The siding that the SCEHT is sitting on is just north of the diamond crossing of the Wagoner Subdivision and BNSF's Cherokee Subdivision. In the early evening light, U...