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Southern Pacific 4449

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   CAPTION: Southern Pacific 4449

   Southern Pacific 4449
   SP4449 standing idle under steam, waiting to start Christmas excursion,
   December 13, 2005.
   Power type Steam
   Builder Lima Locomotive Works
   Serial number 7817
   Build date May 1941
   Configuration 4-8-4
   Gauge 4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm)
   Weight on drivers 275,700 lb
   Total weight 475,000 lb
   Cylinder size 25½ in dia × 32 in stroke
   Tractive effort 64,800 lbf, 78,000 lbf with booster
   Career Southern Pacific
   Class GS-4
   Number in class 28
   Number 4449
   Nicknames "The Daylight"
   First run May 30, 1941
   Retired October 2, 1957
   Restored 1975
   Disposition runs in occasional excursion service; based in Portland,
   Oregon

   Southern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific
   Railroad's (SP) GS-4 class of steam locomotives. The GS-4 is a
   streamlined 4-8-4 (Northern) type steam locomotive. GS stands for
   "Golden State" (a nickname for California, where the locomotive was
   operated in regular service) or "General Service." The locomotive was
   built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, for SP in May 1941; it
   received the red-and-orange "Daylight" paint scheme for the passenger
   trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career.
   4449 was retired from revenue service in 1957 and put on static display
   in Oaks Park, Portland, Oregon, the following year, where it remained
   until 1974. It was restored to operation for use in the second American
   Freedom Train, which toured the 48 contiguous United States for the
   American Bicentennial celebrations. Since then, 4449 has been operated
   in excursion service throughout the continental US; its operations are
   currently based at the Brooklyn roundhouse in Portland where it is
   maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers.

Revenue service years

   4449 was the last engine manufactured in Southern Pacific's first order
   of GS-4 locomotives. 4449 was placed into service on May 30, 1941, and
   spent its early career assigned to the Coast Daylight, SP's premier
   passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, but
   it also pulled many other of the SP's named passenger trains. After the
   arrival of newer GS-4s and GS-5s, 4449 was assigned to Golden State
   Route and Sunset Route passenger trains. One of 4449's career
   highlights happened on October 17, 1954, when 4449 and sister 4447
   pulled a special 10 car train for the Railway and Locomotive Historical
   Society from Los Angeles to Owenyo, California, and return. In 1955,
   4449 was painted black and silver and its side skirting (a streamlining
   feature of the Daylight steam engines) was removed. 4449 was then
   assigned to Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Valley line, occasionally
   pulling passenger trains such as the San Joaquin Daylight between
   Oakland and Bakersfield as well as fast freight and helper service.
   4449 was semi-retired from service on September 24, 1956, and was kept
   as an emergency back-up locomotive until it was officially retired on
   October 2, 1957, and was placed in storage along with several other GS
   class engines near Southern Pacific's Bakersfield roundhouse.

Display at Oaks Park

   In 1958 when most of the GS class engines had already been scrapped, a
   then black-and-silver painted 4449 was removed from storage and donated
   to the city of Portland, Oregon, on April 24, 1958, where it was placed
   on outdoor public display in Oaks Park. Why 4449 of all the available
   "Daylight" locomotives was chosen may never be known. During its time
   on display, 4449 was repeatedly vandalized and had many of its parts
   stolen, including its builder's plates and whistle, and the locomotive
   was quickly deteriorating due to neglect. It was evaluated for
   restoration in 1974 after becoming a candidate to pull the second
   American Freedom Train. After finding that 4449's bearings and rods
   were in good shape, it was chosen.

The American Freedom Train

   4449 was removed from display on December 14, 1974, and restored at
   Burlington Northern's Hoyt Street roundhouse in Portland and returned
   to operation April 21, 1975, wearing a special paint scheme of red,
   white, and blue. As part of the American Freedom Train, the engine
   pulled a display train around the most of the United States.
   Afterwards, 4449 pulled an Amtrak special, the Preamble Express. After
   nearly two years on the road, 4449 was returned to storage in Portland,
   but this time under protective cover and not exposed to the elements.

1981 to the present

   A view of 4449's pilot and smokebox while on display at Railfair '91.
   Enlarge
   A view of 4449's pilot and smokebox while on display at Railfair '91.

   In 1981, 4449 was returned to its original "Daylight" colors for the
   first Railfair at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento,
   California. In 1984, 4449 pulled an all Daylight-painted train from
   Portland to New Orleans, Louisiana, to publicize the World's Fair,
   making it the longest steam train excursion in US history. In the late
   1980s, 4449 went to Hollywood to appear in a couple movies including "
   Tough Guys", and pulled business trains for the Southern Pacific. 4449
   had another famous moment in 1989 when 4449 and Union Pacific 844
   (another famous 4-8-4 steam engine) made a side-by-side entrance into
   the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989 for the station's 50th
   anniversary celebrations; the two locomotives then raced each other on
   Santa Fe's and Southern Pacific's parallel main lines through Cajon
   Pass, with 4449 eventually taking the lead. 4449 returned to Railfair
   in Sacramento in 1991 and again in 1999. In 2000, 4449 was repainted
   black and silver for a Burlington Northern Santa Fe employee
   appreciation special, then was repainted into the American Freedom
   Train colors again in early 2002 after the events of the September 11th
   terrorist attacks. 4449 has since been returned to Daylight colors
   again, this time in its "as delivered" appearance, and often makes
   appearances at events in the Pacific Northwest. Future excursions are
   being planned, and 4449 will most likely make an appearance at the next
   Railfair in 2011.

Disposition and maintenance

   4449 resides at Union Pacific's Brooklyn roundhouse in Portland along
   with several other historic steam and diesel locomotives. Although the
   Brooklyn roundhouse is inaccesable to the public, there are plans to
   build a better facility for 4449 and the other locomotives at the
   roundhouse.

   4449 is maintained by Doyle McCormack, retired Union Pacific engineer
   and collector, along with many volunteers. When the engine was on
   display at Oaks Park, Jack Holst, a Southern Pacific employee, looked
   after 4449 along with two other steam locomotives, SP&S #700 and OR&N
   #197. Holst kept the engines' bearings and rods oiled in case they were
   ever to move again. Holst died in 1972 and never got to see 4449 return
   to operation.

   Only one other true Southern Pacific GS class steam engine survives,
   Southern Pacific 4460, a GS-6, which is on static display at the Museum
   of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built durring World
   War II and never was a "Daylight" locomotive.

   Another survivor is St. Louis Southwestern 819, a "GS-8", at the
   Arkansas Railroad Museum in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; housed in the same
   building where the engine was built in 1942. The 819 is currently
   undergoing a major rebuild/upgrading and will return once again to
   operation.

   One "Daylight" diesel locomotive survives, Southern Pacific 6051, an
   EMD E9, which resides at the California State Railroad Museum and is
   fully operational.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Pacific_4449"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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