T.G.'s Photography Blog

 Union Pacific 844 was on display at Kansas City Union Station over the 2006 Memorial Day Weekend. On the morning of Tuesday, May 30th, the train would depart Kansas City, Missouri, and head to Fairbury, Nebraska. UP 844 and the South Central Express Heritage Tour (SCEHT) were on the return portion of the trip and were heading back to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Ready to depart KC Union Station UP 844 and is waiting on Track 27 and is ready to depart KC Union Station. UP 844 and the SCEHT are on the return leg of a multi-state tour. The train arrived at Kansas City Union Station , from Claremore, Oklahoma , on May 28, 2006. On the morning of May 30th, the train was preparing to depart Kansas City for its run to Fairbury, Nebraska, where it would spend the night. Onlookers view and photograph UP 844 before it departs Kansas City, Missouri. UP 844 on the move UP 844 is eastbound at Swingster Road in Bonnor Springs, KS. UP 5989 and UP 8288 are stopped. The chase was a short one for m...

 After a nine-hour chase from Claremore, Oklahoma, to Kansas City, Missouri, Union Pacific's (UP) steam locomotive 844 arrived at Kansas City in the late afternoon of May 28, 2006. The train arrived at Union Station by way of Kansas City Terminal's (KCT) trackage from Sheffield Tower to Union Station. UP 844's arrival at Union Station UP 844 is westbound on KCT Main 4 between Main St. and Broadway Blvd. Sheffield Tower (also known as Sheffield Junction or Control Point (CP) Sheffield) is where UP's KC Metro Subdivision interchanges with and crosses over the Kansas City Terminal's tracks. As well as some trackage belonging to Kansas City Southern and BNSF. UP's Coffeyville Subdivision ends/begins a few miles to the south of Sheffield, and the KC Metro Subdivision connects it with the KCT tracks. UP 844 and the SCEHT are west bound at KCT milepost 7.0, next to Union Station. The famous Western Auto sign is in the background. From Sheffield Tower, UP 844 pulled th...

  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...

UP 3985 - Chester Subdivision - Columbia, IL Back in October of 2010, Union Pacific's Challenger 3985 came to St. Louis, Missouri. On October 7, the steam locomotive took an excursion train south to Gorham, Illinois , and then back to St. Louis. The first photograph, above, is of the locomotive as it heads south on the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Columbia, Illinois. This was the only photograph I managed to get of the locomotive on the outbound trip to Gorham. The train was traveling at a fast pace, and due to a road closure at Chester, Illinois, my dad and I could not keep with it. So, after lunch in Chester, we found a photographic spot to capture UP 3985 from on the return trip. UP 3985 - Kaskaskia River - Chester Subdivision After Union Pacific 3985 got to Gorham, Illinois, it was turned around on the wye tracks between the Chester Subdivision and the Mount Vernon Subdivision. It then began its journey back to St. Louis. On the return journey we c...

UP Big Boy X4006 - Kirkwood, MO While I have not managed to see Union Pacific Big Boy 4014, the newly restored and running Big Boy steam locomotive, I have managed to see and photograph two other Big Boy locomotives on static display. One of the two is Union Pacific Big Boy 4006, which is on display at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri. Kirkwood, is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Front of UP Big Boy X4006 - Kirkwood, MO About Union Pacific Big Boy 4006 Union Pacific 4006 was built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in September 1941. In total, Alco built twenty-five Big Boys for the Union Pacific Railroad, with the first ones being delivered in 1941. The locomotives have a wheel arrangement of 4-8-8-4, and are articulated type steam locomotives. This means that the two sets of eight driving wheels move separately from each other, allowing the steam locomotives to navigate tighter radius curves. Overall, the locomotives and thei...

NKP 765 leads train O99 south at Palmer, IL. Nickel Plate Road (NKP) 765 , Norfolk Southern (NS) 1072, and NS 1070 lead NS train O99 south on the Brooklyn District near Palmer, Illinois. The steam locomotive and its train were on the way from Decatur, Illinois, to the St. Louis, Missouri, area to run some Norfolk Southern employee appreciation excursions, over the weekend of September 8-9, 2012. Norfolk Southern 1070 and Norfolk Southern 1072 are two of Norfolk Southern's heritage locomotives. These locomotives are painted in past paint schemes of railroads that NS has merged with over the years. NS 1072 is painted in an Illinois Terminal Railroad paint scheme, while NS 1070 is painted in a Wabash Railroad paint scheme. Photo taken: September 6, 2012. Palmer, Illinois. 

UP 4006 - Stained Tender -Kirkwood, MO After years of exposure to the natural elements at the Museum of Transportation , the side of Union Pacific Big Boy 4006's tender is stained with streaks. Photo taken: August 16, 2012. Kirkwood, Missouri.

The fronts of both Southern Pacific 4460 and New York Central 2933 are seen here, at the National Museum of Transportation, in Kirkwood, MO. At the time photograph was taken, NYC 2933 seemed to be under going a cosmetic restoration. Photo taken: September 15, 2007. Kirkwood, Missouri. Photo © Tom Gatermann

Milwaukee Road 261 basks in the afternoon sun at Kansas City Union Station. The train was on display after have lead a steam excursion into town. You can see some other posts of mine containing images of 261, by clicking on the Milwaukee Road 261 label below. Photo taken: September 25, 2005. Kansas City, Missouri. Photo © Tom Gatermann

A release of water from Union Pacific (UP) 844 occurs while the locomotive undergoes maintenance work, after having recently arrived at Kansas City Union Station. Photo taken: April 4, 2010. Kansas City, Missouri. Photo © Tom Gatermann

I'm just going to park this photo right here for you to enjoy. This is steam locomotive Nickel Plate (NKP) 765, at the Rock Island Train Festival. The train was returning, after a passenger excursion, back to the rail yard along the Mississippi River front in Rock Island, where the festival was occurring. NKP 765 is a Lima Locomotive Works built Berkshire S-2 class locomotive. It was built in 1944 and used in regular service until 1958. In the mid to late 1970s, NKP 765 was restored to operation condition and began its second career as an excursion steam locomotive.  Photo taken: July 22, 2011. Rock Island, IL.

October 19, 2008. Durant, Iowa. Iowa Interstate 6988 and Iowa Interstate 7081, lead a double-header steam excursion west at Durant, Iowa. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

UP 844, UP 5989, & UP 8288 Union Pacific (UP) 844 rolls west past Union Pacific 5989 and Union Pacific 8288. UP 5989 and UP 8288 are on the point of a coal train that is stopped waiting to proceed east to Kansas City. UP 844 was on its way from Kansas City, MO to Fairbury, NE. Photo taken: May 30, 2006, at Bonner Springs, KS.

June 1, 2011. Union Pacific (UP) 6502 leads an empty coal train west at Jefferson City, MO. The building in the background, sticking just slightly above the tree line, is the Missouri Governor’s Mansion. Also, in the background is Union Pacific 844 .

Seen here heading south is Union Pacific 844, as it leads a train under the old MoPac signal bridge at Rhymer Road and Illinois Route 3, just north of McClure, Illinois. June 4, 2011. North of McClure, Illinois.

October 18, 2008. Rock Island, Illinois. Steam blows off from Iowa Interstate Railway (IAIS) 6988. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 18, 2008. Rock Island, Illinois. Running gear on Iowa Interstate (IAIS) steam locomotive 6988. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 18, 2008. Rock Island, Illinois. IAIS 7081 slowly shoves its train backwards under Centennial Bridge, in a small yard along side Centennial Expressway. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 19, 2008. Wilton, Iowa. Iowa Interstate Railway's two Chinese built QJ class steam locomotives, numbers 6988 and 7081, roll west at Wilton, Iowa. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 18, 2008. Rock Island, Illinois. Iowa Interstate (IAIS) 7081, a Chinese built Class QJ locomotive, pulls a string of passenger cars through the yard along Centennial Expressway. The locomotive and its sister locomotive IAIS 6988 were participating in steam excursions during the weekend of October 18th and 19th. Photo © Tom Gatermann.