Karl, What a good picture. I was blessed to ride in the gold U.P. corp passenger train pulled by 3985 from Jefferson City to Kirkwood. Stayed at the half-open door in the baggage car as close as one could get to the loco. Once at Kirkwood I had some black on my face. Railfanning several other times I stood track-side or in the yard so could get into the cab. 3985 did not make the exciting noise as 1522 did. 3985 is all stripped down presently as Big Boys is getting all of the attention in the shop, so the public will have to wait about a ~ 8 years for it to come back to life. But I think 844 is back on the rails again. They still use the two diesels moreso. There is a 4th steam loco in the shop where work on it has been slow for the last 20 years. The U.P. train has ~ 2 cabooses now. The 2nd is an old MoPac red caboose with large 2 platforms and a small cab. When I was at Chocolate Bayou I would watch it every day as it has been in service there for many decades. Amoco has ~ 150 ACF centerflow hoppers and Monsanto/Solutis has ~ 60 tank cars in their yards at the end of the~ 10 mile long spur that need to be managed each night. I will send some pics. Cool media Karl Charlie
What’s the 4th one? The 2-10-2? There’s another 4-8-4, 8-30-something, but they’ve been cannibalizing it for years to keep the 844 alive. I’m pretty sure there’s a 4-6-0 there also, too small for any practical excursion use. I wish they’d bring the 4-12-2 back although its wheelbase is probably too long for many places on the line. And why don’t they take in engines from their merged in fallen flags like the Cotton Belt 819? Or the several SP engines out there depending on volunteers for everything?
