Hey guys, here’s a pic from when 4449 steamed across Marias last year! Click it for more info and a larger version!
Psh, nobody here likes steam anymore? [:P]
The photography lovers must be away for the weekend. That is a good picture.
Was the train standing when you took the photo? If it was working upgrade I would have expected a bit of steam or diesel exhaust.
That is one nice looking steam engine with that matching extra tender. I wonder if it was an original survivor or was it built to match the 4449’s tender.
I still remember the reaction of a former CPR fireman who was working in the oil patch when I was in the late seventies. I was talking to him after the first time the British Columbia Railway Museum brought their Royal Hudson 2850 east over the Rockies. He was surprised when I told him they were pulling a second tender as well as a standard tank car. When I said they had to do it because there were no more water tanks around anymore, he was astounded at the amount of water they went through. When you were filling the tender all the time you never saw all the water you went through in one place.
Bruce
I was riding on PV “New York Central 3”, the fifth car in the train, just ahead of “Caritas”, on that beautiful day. The 4449 didn’t work up a sweat going over Maria’s (not the “PC” spelling, just good English) Pass that day and the P42 just hummed and put out HEP. Yar, I would have liked lots of smoke and CINDERS, but it was not to be. She just loafed along, with 13 cars in tow! Had my Nikon D50 with me and didn’t take ‘picture-one’! I was having too much fun to mess with the cameras! Even left my camcorders at home… Thanks for the fotos. I followed the train a bit on the WB run in October, but the “chaser loons” scared me off! Them is scary people!
Hays
Smoke and cinders implies that the fireman isn’t up to his job, especially if the locomotive isn’t being taxed to its limits. GN always spelled it as “Marias Pass” in its OG listing.
My apologies for the error in my earlier post, I should have said 2860. This engine is now owned and operated by the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish, BC.
Bruce
that’s a great pic. She’s a cool engine, I love the old SP paint scheme.
That is a wonderful picture. I saw this engine at trainfest 2009 in Owosso michigan this summer. It was a wonderful event with 8, yes 8 real live steam locomotives doing their thing to help raise funds for PM 1225’s 15 year inpsection/overhaul and to educate those who are unaware of the wonders of man’s engineering and technical capablities. Later in the fall I got a cab ride in NKP 765 and it is one of those experiences I’ll treasure the rest of my life. These BIG steamers are impressive! So keep up the good work with your photos. Thanks, John
Smoke would have been nice. We were paying for it! Cinders were just wishful thinking, from an oil-burning loco. I’m from the east and loved cinders! Got one in my eye from the 611, but it was worth it.
CPT Meriwether Lewis named the pass after his cousin Maria, ergo “Maria’s Pass”. The dumbed-down “PC” (no, not Penn Central) NEA/UFT/USPS/USGS spelling deletes the apostrophe. They recently did the same thing to Camel’s Hump, VT (along the NECR, né CV, etc.). It is now “Camels Hump”. Duh! So do dogs, and… Ain’t edumication wunnerful?
Hays
Thanks for the kind words, everyone!
Yeah, I was kind of hoping for that 
Ah well, you’d expect the fireman on an engine like her to be doing their job.
The crowds following this one were a bit scary, weren’t they? I almost didn’t come just for that, but figured that being the respected photographer I am I should thrust myself in between some noobs.
I got held up, a bit, in Shelby. I was on the north side of the tracks, talking with friends on “NYC 3”. My truck was on the south side, but a rail grinding train blocked the crossing, going east, for a bit. I tried to catch the WB 4449, going the 70 mph speed limit. No joy! Wow!, can that thing move, even uphill!!! The “chasers” were in, mostly, disposable little furrin cars. They drove, with no regard to the undulations in the road, like F-1 fools. At least, in F-1, there are no opposing Kenworths! I gave it up at Ethridge and returned home. Watching the “chasers” on the EB trip was equally scary. Never saw a Montana Highway Patrol car. They were all to busy checking “deer vs. vehicle” incidents! Lotta good they can do there, but they will drive 250 miles to investigate. Why we have them, I’ll never know! I suggested we disband them and dole out the officers to our 56 counties, eliminating the paper-pushers. I am a pariah! It was worth a try… Aktchu’lly, I’ll keep trying and hope I never hit a deer!
Hays
From what I know of Doyle and his crew they runher like she is in regular service UNLESS it is a photo runby. Which means NO SMOKE. Sorry a fireman that could not keep the stack clear was wasting company cash and not worth his check.