Historic steam locomotive passes through area

FRED LYNCH * flynch@semissourian.com

Union Pacific Railroad's Challenger steam locomotive No. 3985 slowly rolled to a brief stop in Scott City Thursday afternoon as train enthusiasts gathered to watch and take pictures.Southeast Missourian

School children and train enthusiasts in Southeast Missouri got a glimpse of history Thursday as the Union Pacific steam engine Challenger No. 3985 passed through Scott City.

The train is the world's largest operating steam locomotive and is touring eight states on its way to Houston for a display at Super Bowl XXXVIII. It left St. Louis Thursday on its way to Arkansas.

Loyd and Shirley Young went down to the railroad tracks in Scott City to see the engine pass through. Loyd Young worked for the railroad but by that time, the steam engines had been traded in for diesels.

"It brought back a lot of old memories of when we had steam engines going through here all the time," he said. His father also worked for the railroad and Young said he remembers the steam engines coming through town, "huffing and puffing."

The whistle on a steam engine sounds much different than that of a diesel engine, he added.

The locomotive was built in 1943 and retired in 1959. It was restored for service in 1981 by Union Pacific employee volunteers and is based in Cheyenne, Wyo. The engine weighs more than 1 million pounds and can travel as fast as 70 miles per hour.

The engine stopped overnight in Bernie and heads to Pine Bluff, Ark., today.

While in Bernie, the locomotive will fill up with water from a fire hydrant to produce the steam it needs to operate. Nearly everyone in town was waiting for the train's arrival, said resident Linda Jennings.

Jennings said she'd heard there was a solid line of cars along the 10 miles from Dexter to Bernie -- all the vehicles filled with people waiting to see the train.