Union Pacific 844

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**Union Pacific 844**
Power type	Steam
UP 844 at Del Rio, Texas
Builder	American Locomotive Company
Serial number	72791
Configuration	4-8-4
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Driver size	80 in (2,000 mm)
Wheelbase	locomotive and tender: 98 ft 5 in (30 m)
Weight on drivers	266,490 lb (120,880 kg)
Locomotive weight	486,340 lb (220,600 kg)
Locomotive and tender combined weight	907,890 lb (411,810 kg)
Fuel type	No. 5 fuel oil, originally coal
Tender capacity	23,500 gallons (89,000 L) water, 6,200 gallons (23,500 L) oil
Boiler	86 ³⁄₁₆ in (2189.2 mm) diameter
Boiler pressure	300 psi (2,100 kPa)
Fire grate area	100 sq ft (9.3 m²) (grate removed in 1945)
Heating surface: Tubes	2,204 sq ft (204.8 m²)
Heating surface: Flues	1,578 sq ft (146.6 m²)
Heating surface: Firebox	442 sq ft (41.1 m²)
Heating surface: Total	4,224 sq ft (392.4 m²)
Superheater area	1,400 sq ft (130 m²)
Cylinder size	25 in (640 mm) bore × 32 in (810 mm) stroke
Tractive effort	63,800 lbf (284,000 N)
Factor of adhesion	4.18
Career	Union Pacific
Class	FEF-3
Number	844
Delivered	1944
Retired	Never retired
Disposition	operates in occasional excursion service

Union Pacific 844 is a 4-8-4 steam locomotive owned by Union Pacific Railroad. It was the last steam locomotive delivered (in 1944) to Union Pacific and is unique in that it is the only steam locomotive never retired by a North American Class I railroad. It was designed as a passenger engine and pulled such trains as the Overland Flyer, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger. It was reassigned to freight service when diesel-electric locomotives took over passenger service and operated from 1957 to 1959 in Nebraska. It was saved from being scrapped in 1960 and is now used on company and public excursion trains, along with revenue freight during ferry moves.

From 1962-1989, this locomotive was numbered UP 8444 due to a conflict with the railroad's numbering plan for the EMD GP30 locomotives that UP owned at the time. After the conflicting GP30 was retired from service in June 1989, 8444 was renumbered back to 844. Interestingly, the GP30 is preserved and operable and there is now an EMD SD70ACe in UP's roster numbered 8444.[1]

A second 4-8-4 of the same class, UP 838, is kept in the shops at Cheyenne, Wyoming as a source of spare parts.

The UP 844 appears in the opening and closing credits of the 1989-1995 PBS show Shining Time Station.