The first convention trip I chose was the Western Star Mainline Steam Trip to Wishram. I was up early with Bob Riskie, Chris Parker and I going to Elmer's for a great breakfast to start what would be an excellent day of train riding. We all then took MAX, Portland's superb light rail, from our Days Inn at 82nd Street to the Lloyd Center where the convention headquarters was at the Doubletree Hotel. We waited in front for the buses to take us to Portland Union Station, from where our excursion originated. Bob and I rode the first bus and Chris boarded another. It took no time to reach Union Station and soon we were all in the waiting room then walking out to the train, where I put my belongings on a seat in "St. Paul Pass" and walked into the "Pony Express" staking out a baggage door location. I bought T-shirts from both the Friends of Southern Pacific 4449 and SP&S 700 groups then waited for departure.
We had to wait for Amtrak Cascades 500 to arrive and depart before our train could be made up. Now for some history on both our steam engines.
Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449 A Brief HistorySouthern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of steam locomotives. 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 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. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1957 and put into storage. In 1958 it was donated, by the railroad, to the City of Portland who then put it on static display in Oaks Park, 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 called Friends of SP 4449. In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers chose the 4449 as the most popular locomotive in the nation.
Revenue Years: 4449 was the last engine manufactured in Southern Pacific's first order of GS-4 (Golden State/General Service) 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. 4449 was re-assigned to the Coast Division in the early 1950s. 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, after being one of the last few Daylight steam engines in Daylight livery, 4449 was painted black and silver and its side skirting (a streamlining feature of the Daylight steam engines) was removed due to dieselization of the Coast Daylight in January of that year. 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.
On Display: 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. Since the equipment was considered obsolete, 4449 was not actively chosen for static display. It was picked simply because it was the first in the dead line and could be removed with the least number of switching moves. During its time on display, 4449 was repeatedly vandalized and had many of its parts stolen, including its builder's plates and whistle. The locomotive quickly deteriorated due to neglect. It was evaluated for restoration in 1974 after becoming a candidate to pull the American Freedom Train. Its size, power, and graceful lines made it a good fit for the Bicentennial train. After finding that 4449's bearings and rods were in good shape, it was chosen.
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 Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion. After nearly two years on the road, 4449 was returned to storage in Portland, this time under protective cover and not exposed to the elements.
Present Day: In 1981, SP 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 and back, to publicize the World's Fair. The 7,477-mile round trip was the longest steam train excursion in US history. In 1986, 4449 went to Hollywood to appear in "Tough Guys", and pulled business trains for the Southern Pacific. No. 4449 had another famous moment in 1989 when 4449 and Union Pacific 844 made a side-by-side entrance into the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989 for the station's 50th anniversary celebrations. No. 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. In 2004, the locomotive was returned to Daylight colors again, this time in its "as delivered" appearance.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle 4-8-4 700 A Brief HistoryIn 1937, the SP&S purchased its first new locomotives, three 4-8-4s, mainly for passenger service. Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered the SP&S 700, 701 and 702 in 1938. After showing the SP&S 700 off to communities along the line, the SP&S quickly put them to work hauling passenger trains between Spokane and Vancouver, Washington. The SP&S 700 and 702 would be used in overnight train service between the two cities. In 1947, the Great Northern streamlined its premiere train, the Empire Builder, and started using diesels for all its transcontinental passenger trains. The SP&S also purchased diesels, but they arrived after the streamlined cars so for a few months the SP&S 700 was used to pull the Portland section of the Empire Builder. SP&S 700 was then used on secondary passenger service into the early 1950's before being displaced by diesels.
The SP&S 700 was then used in freight service until 1955. In May 1956, the steam engine was spruced up for the "Farewell to Steam" run with 21 cars carrying 1,400 passengers on a Portland to Wishram round trip. After the trip, it was placed on the scrap line with other SP&S locomotives. Union Pacific had offered to donate a steam locomotive to the City of Portland for display in a park. Not to be outdone by its competitor, SP&S volunteered No. 700. The two locomotives were placed in the park in 1958, and were shortly followed by Southern Pacific 4449. They sat together for nearly two decades. In 1977, Chris McLarney started working on SP&S 700, cleaning and oiling various parts. He also started the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association provide support for the SP&S 700 restoration work.
This would be my first ride behind her, but I had been in her cab during a private Brooklyn Roundhouse tour in June 2003.
The ExcursionBefore we arrived at Union Station, my friend from Milwaukee, Keith Schmidt, caught both steam engines reversing onto the train. Our train consist was SP&S 700, Southern Pacific 4449, 4449 auxiliary tender, Amtrak P42DC 136, Southern Pacific Sunset Limited baggage car 3105, open platform-observation car New York Central 3, open observation car "Montana", Pullman Company lounge-sleeper "Kitchi Gammi Club", Union Pacific lounge-sleeper "Mount Vernon", California Zephyr sleeper "Silver Rapids", Union Pacific coach "Echo Canyon", Santa Fe coach "Tolani", Pennsylvania Railroad coach "Arizona", Pennsylvania Railroad coach "St. Paul", Canadian Pacific baggage car "Pony Express", Southern Pacific lounge car "Overland Trail", Milwaukee Road club-lounge car "Wisconsin Valley", Milwaukee Road "Super Dome", Pennsylvania Railroad sleeper-buffet lounge "Colonial Crafts", California Zephyr Vista Dome-coach "Silver Lariat" and Milwaukee Road Skytop observation car "Cedar Rapids.
Once all the Amtrak Cascades detraining passengers and wellwishers had gone into the station, the crew reversed our front section to couple onto the rest of our train.
We departed Portland Union Station long after the Cascades had left and ran below the Interstate 405 bridge. Photographers were everywhere and that would be the case throughout the day.
Keith Schmidt then set up to chase and caught the steam engines picking up speed about a mile out of Union Station.
The train curved slightly to the right.
The rear of our train as we passed through Willbridge.
We climbed the grade and turned in order to cross the Willamette River.
Our train about to cross the Willamette River Bridge.
A Union Pacific train was waiting for a clear to enter the joint BNSF/UP mainline to Washington at North Portland Junction; Union Pacific has trackage rights from here to Tacoma. Minutes later, we crossed the Columbia River into Washington.
The Columbia River looking east with the Interstate 5 bridge.
We rolled off the bridge and turned right, passing the Amtrak Vancouver, Washington station on the left. A few moments later, we passed "The Crossing", a restaurant located at 8th and Jefferson, made out of passenger cars before passing below the Interstate 5 bridge.
The Portland Chapter of the NRHS had a van that was chasing our train as we proceeded east along Highway 14 and the Columbia River.
Columbia Business Center 86 ton switcher 102, nee Pacific Lumber Company in Scotia, California 102 built by General Electric in 1956. It was stored after the railroad shut down in 1977 and was purchased by Dick Samuels. This was at Evans, in an area that used to be a Kaiser Shipyard.
From here our train picked up speed en route to Camas.
Keith Schmidt next caught SP&S 700 and Southern Pacific 4449 steaming through Camas then we came to a hot detector, the first of the trip, which went crazy when our two steam engines went by. Since this was the first detector, our train had to be inspected.
Passing the Washougal siding.
We met the waters of the Columbia River to start the most beautiful part of our journey to Wishram.
Shore-running along the Columbia River east of Washougal.
Passing the Bonneville Dam.
Nearing the Bridge of the Gods.
Bridge of the Gods, a natural dam created by the Bonneville Slide, a major slide that dammed the Columbia River near present-day Cascade Locks.
What a beautiful scene. It does not get any better that this. The "Pony Express" was the perfect location to view the train and the Columbia River Gorge.
.The cool weather made for some beautiful steam.
Our train approaching the first of the twin railroad and highway tunnels in the Columbia River Gorge.
More river running.
Approaching the highway bridge from Hood River.
Rolling east through Cooks.
What beautiful scenery our train passed by on the way to Wishram. I then an idea. "Overland Trail" is a most unique car and features a barber shop. Why not get my hair cut as I did in August 2002 on the way back from the NRHS convention from the Gand Canyon, riding behind Santa Fe 3751?. I went to the "Overland Trail" and asked Sandy the barber if she could cut my hair and as she did so, the train stopped at Bingen and went into the siding to let a BNSF train pass. Therefore, the task was able to be completed with no motion. People walking by naturally had to stop and look and several passengers took pictures. How many people can say that they have had their hair cut when riding behind a steam engine?
I now have been behind Santa Fe 3751, SP&S 700 and Southern Pacific 4449 while having my hair cut. Sandy, thank you!. After I paid her, I returned to the "Pony Express" just as the train resumed its journey, then passed through Avery before approaching Wishram.
Our NRHS Steam Special passed the Columbia River drawbridge on the BNSF Fallbridge Subdivision, which is the north end of the Inside Gateway, as well as the Fallbridge Wye, where our train would turn after lunch. We arrived at Wishram and knowing how convention barbecues work, I made a beeline to the food line, getting my barbecue chicken and meeting Bob at a table.
The rear of the Western Star Steam Special, my old friend, Milwaukee Road skytop observation 186 "Cedar Rapids", built by the railroad in 1948 and designed by famed industrial designer Brooks Stevens for service on the Twin Cities Hiawathas. It is one of only four Skytop observation parlour lounges ever built and the only one that can still ride the rails today.
The train then slowly began reversing to the wye.
Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449.
Spokane Portland and Seattle 4-8-4 700.
On the way to the Fallbridge Wye.
The railroad kept moving while we were here.
Our train was now ready to pull forward off the bridge before reversing into Wishram.
BNSF 4855 East came through before our steam special.
A few minutes later our train reversed into Wishram and all passengers had to return to the station side of the tracks while the engines switched positions to put Southern Pacific 4449 on the point for the return trip to Portland.
SP&S 700 came off the train and pulled forward before reversing into a siding.
Next, Southern Pacific 4449 came off the train and switched onto a different track, after which SP&S 700 returned to the train followed by Southern Pacific 4449, so it was now in the lead.
The two steam engines were ready to be serviced. I said hello to Doyle McCormack, Southern Pacific 4449 engineer then met the SP&S 700 engineer, Jim Abney, who is a reader of my website.
I was caught on film by Jim Fitzgerald wearing one of my Trainweb.com shirts.
The herald of the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railroad, which is jointly owned by the Great Northern Railroad and the Northern Pacific Railway. Its goal was to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River. Remnants of the line are currently operated by BNSF Railway and the Portland and Western Railroad. The railroad was chartered in 1905 by James J. Hill to connect the two transcontinental railroads owned by him, the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, to Portland from Spokane, to gain a portion of the lumber trade in Oregon, a business then dominated by E.H. Harriman's Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. Construction began in 1906 under the name Portland & Seattle Railway, proceeding eastward from Vancouver, Washington. 1906 also saw the start of construction of the line between Vancouver and Portland, including work on three major new bridges, crossing the Columbia River, the Oregon Slough and the Willamette River. The northernmost of these was the first bridge of any kind to be built across the lower Columbia River.
Once servicing was complete, everyone reboarded our train and I returned to the "Pony Express" and we departed Wishram, known as Fallbridge until 1926, at 4:10 PM.
Our train near Avery rolling west.
More of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.
Keith Schmidt caught Southern Pacific 4449 now leading the train westbound through a cut west of North Dalles, Washington.
Just west of North Dalles.
A trainload of happy steam train riders on a special day.
Southern Pacific 4449 made a large turn at speed.
Approaching Cooks.
Another view along the beautiful Columbia River.
Keith Schmidt next captured our train passing the lumber mill at Hood, Washington.
Our train nearing the Bridge of the Gods. At Skamania, we went into the siding for an eastbound BNSF freight.
From the highway bridge west of North Bonnerille, Washingto, was Keith's next picture. We jumped forward to the next siding at Washougal to meet the Portland section of Amtrak's eastbound Empire Builder.
Keith took his final shot, along with about 100 others, west of Prindle, Washington. Our train then continued to roll west through Camas and into Vancouver and we crossed the Columbia River back in Oregon.
After crossed the Willamette River, we returned to Portland Union Station after a 212.1 mile roundtrip, detrained and I said goodbye to all my new friends.
The three of us decided to take MAX to Lloyd Center for dinner and walking south towards the Chinatown MAX stop allowed a final view of our double-headed steam train. Thank you, Southern Pacific 4449 and SP&S 700 for an incredible day of train riding in the Columbia River Gorge. I chose Arby's and Chris and Bob went to another fast food restaurant before we returned to the Days Inn for the night.
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