by Cate Kratville-Wrinn/photos as noted
Eighty years old. Never retired.
That’s quite an impressive feat for any steam locomotive on any railroad, let alone an American Class I. But it’s one accomplished by the last steam locomotive ever delivered new to Union Pacific, FEF-3 4-8-4 844, which was built 80 years ago this month. It’s no wonder why the railroad has dubbed this Northern type locomotive “The Living Legend.”
Locomotive 844 was delivered from American Locomotive Company (Alco) in December 1944 as World War II raged on in Europe and the Pacific. At the time, Alco and other locomotive manufacturers couldn’t produce motive power fast enough for the railroads tasked with moving record-breaking amounts of tonnage.
The 4-8-4 design was first introduced by Northern Pacific in the 1930s, but it wasn’t adopted by UP until a decade later. UP, however, did not want to call their 4-8-4s by its competitor’s name and instead referred to them as “FEF” types, standing for “Four-Eight-Four.”
ABOVE: Thanks to either some bad firing or a little showmanship, UP 8444 puts on a spectacular display of smoke at Point of Rocks, Wyo., on August 31, 1968. —Victor Hand photo, Center for Railroad Photography & Art collection
About every 10 years, UP put in orders for the next generation of power. Beginning in 1900, the railroad ordered a fleet of Ten-Wheelers followed by Consolidations, Atlantics, Pacifics, Mikados, 2-10-2s, Mountains, Overlands (4-10-2), and 9000s (4-12-2). But perhaps the most well-known classes of UP steam locomotives would be the last three — the Challengers (4-6-6-4s), the Northerns, and of course, the Big Boys (4-8-8-4s).
In the late 1930s, Otto Jabelmann was appointed UP vice president of research and mechanical standards. He called for a complete rebuild of the steam program. The smaller and older engines could not keep up with soaring demand for tonnage and speed, let alone the sheer volume of trains needed. Double-heading was common on the lines, which increased operational costs for the railroad. A program commenced, modernizing older locomotives to both improve efficiency and expand power. But even with that modernization initiative, it was clear that new, thoroughly modern power was needed, including for passenger service.
At the time, UP was working with both Baldwin and Alco to build steam locomotives. Hudson-type 4-6-4s were briefly considered as the railroad wanted something that could reach speeds of 90 to 100 mph. But eventually, UP’s mechanical staff settled on the 4-8-4 design. Pulling from the experience of other railroads, Alco helped UP design a locomotive that could be used in both freight and passenger service. The FEF was born, with the first built in 1937.
ABOVE: On May 11, 1968, Union Pacific 8444 leads an excursion at Rock River, Wyo., running from Denver to Rawlins, Wyo. In the early days of the UP steam program there were still plenty of steam-era servicing facilities, and so extra equipment like auxiliary water tenders were not needed. (Division managers were also familiar with what a steam locomotive could do, so diesels weren’t needed either!)
The FEF-1
The FEF-1 4-8-4s were the first steam locomotives in the UP fleet to have a boiler rated to operate at 300 pounds per square inch. That meant they were exceptionally powerful machines. The new locomotives also featured cast-steel frames with cast air pump supports, crosshead guide supports, back cylinder heads, main air reservoirs, spring brake rigging, and reverse gear bracket supports.
Alco and UP teams came up with a way to eliminate the conventional knuckle joints on the FEF’s side rods which resulted in less maintenance. The locomotives also featured roller bearings on all engine and tender axles. The tender was designed to support 20,000 gallons of water plus 5,000 tons of coal, both of which were needed to allow the locomotive to travel longer distances.
Once built at the Alco factory in Schenectady, N.Y., the 800s were ferried across several railroads on their way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for final delivery. The route followed Delaware & Hudson and New York Central to get to Chicago. From there, Chicago & North Western would take them to Council Bluffs. After delivery, the locomotives were sent across the Missouri River to UP’s Omaha shops to prepare them for service; the shops could turn around a new engine in just a few days. They were then put on freight drags across Nebraska for initial testing. Following that, they were permanently assigned to either passenger or freight service.
The new engines (800–819) were put into service on passenger trains such as the Challenger, Pacific Limited, California Fast Mail, Portland Rose, and Overland Limited. After just one year, the 800s had traveled more than 3.5 million miles in passenger service. They were proving themselves to be the workhorse engines UP wanted. More were needed…
