Added: 5 years ago
From: johnr1960
Views: 274,405
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (272)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I've watched this many times, all I can say is AWESOME, What a beautiful locomotive.

  • This is such a cool video. I love it at 1:35 when the Hogger decides to get serious about leaving Greeley and hauls back on the throttle! 844 really starts to talk then.

  • I thought the 844 had a black boiler, not a grey one will some one explain?

  • @844trainman It had a differnt paint job at the time.

  • how fast was it going at the begining of the video

  • I'm sorry. I can't get the smile off of my face!

  • A bit punny verses UP 3985, but i admire both old ladies

  • Too bad the cameraman couldn't get the rushing wind out of the mike. I guess I'm gonna have to go up to DeVore pass and get my rush of the sound of a locomotive going pass. This one came close, though

  • i got to see this locomotive when it came through coffeyville kansas on its way to omaha nebraska right after i got out of training for the union pacific

  • Those guys in the cab have the coolest jobs. How many can, when asked what they do for a living, say that they run the baddest steam locomotive on the planet.

  • My Grandma lived in La Hunta, and my sister and I rode a train from L.A. to there when we were kids. I will never forget that ride. Thanks for the upload that was a great vid! Aloha......

  • THE BEST VIDEO EVER! F. YEAH!

  • The UP844 is one of the most beautiful machines ever created. :)

  • Impressive startup. At 1:36 you can hear the engineer change the cutoff and give her full throttle. The locomotive almost seems to leap forward in response.

  • raw power

  • Was she coal-fueled back then?

  • @ExcaliburLink Oil-fired.

  • have you been to the forney transportation meuseum? they have a real 4-8-8-4 Big Boy there

  • I love the gray and yellow paint scheme, wish they kept it lol I didn't like the black at first but its growing on me too I guess they went with black because it's easier to paint among other things!!! lol

  • Thanks for making this video.  It captures not only the brute force of 844 but also its elegance and beauty.

  • SSSSSEXY!!!!

  • At 60 mph she was burning hot and clean. Magnificent !!!

  • that was absolutely brilliant raw power of steam

  • Brings back lots of memeryos of my childhod when a steamer ran through Clifford mich, it was the grand trunk line running north and south, took it off in 1959,put on diesel, Very sad day when that happend. I always herd it called the polley ann, dont know how it got that name, probely someone just tacked that name to it.

  • Comment removed

  • Jesus! Thats a video speedball! I think i tweaked out around 3:28...lol. I wish I had a big screen Tv and surround sound so i could turn it up all the way and then when the whistle blows Id scream my head off like mad

  • Great Video....

  • That probly wasn't even "full throttle" either :)

  • @fasionbug i know that was like a work out for 844

  • Wonderful just a wonderful video. I saw plenty of these in Utah in the mid 50's.

  • Really nice video ! I prefer this scheme rather than the all black one.

    these locomotive where really the pinnacle of steam technology

  • WOW that is really an amazing video of a beautiful machine! Thank you so much for posting this!

  • UP used double stacks with 2 x 4 steam exhaust ports so even at full throttle the smoke is thrown out less high than , say, Milwaukee´s 261. That´s why they added smoke lifters in later years. The lower exhaust velocity however produces less back pressure in the engine cylinders and makes the engine accelerate more snappy

  • I am in tears. Wonderful video! BRAVO!

  • how did you keep your camera so still? Great video!!

  • Perfect beauty....respect!

  • Ive never seen a steam locomotive go that fast wtf

  • Wow !

  • this is the first video i ever seen with the u.p. grey 844. also grey does not mix with yellow very well.

  • Great video. Thanks

  • Once again, the 844 never looked SEXIER than when in this two-tone gray Overland Paint Scheme!

  • Very cool Love it

  • I love this train.

  • I love this train.

  • My goodness is it gorgeous!!

  • IMPRESSIVE!!!!

  • Irre Geile Kameraführung.Danke für das schöne Video.5*****

  • SEXY

  • If only we could go back to the days...

  • beauty mate....nice vid

  • Great video !!!!

  • All I want is the water and coal put your head out the window and watch the drivers roll -watch the drivers roll --watch the rivers roll--put your head out the window watch the drivers roll

    From Jimmie Rodgers--"Ben Dewberry's Final Run "

  • I think I saw it earlier that day going to Denver. Do you remember if the 6936 was with it?

  • No. The 844 was the only locomotive for the day.

  • That's true power right there.

  • Why people are forgetting that engine only works to accelerate at beginning and keep working in a bit passive manner throughout .

    Rest is the work of inertia .

  • I miss the grey paint scheme

  • Frikkin' awsome!

  • What a machine!

  • at 136 he puts the juice to it and wham were off!

  • 1:30-2:10 PEDDAL TO THE METAL! Awesome video.

  • my dad works for UNION PACIFIC

  • How long? my step-dad works for UP out of Salem, Il, he's been there since 68.

  • If the USA should ever be a Monarchy again, this should be her Queen.

  • Any idea what speed 844 got to by 3.44 ? must be near 100mph

  • The train was doing approx. 60 mph at the end of the clip.

  • @jammyhartley steamers cant go 100 its inpossible these days

  • Great steamer and excellent video.

  • Great 0-60 acceleration run !

  • You know the engine is black now.

  • This steam locomotive is going to be in North Platte this coming weekend

  • screw thomas the tank engine

    UP 844! some bad ass thing.

  • MAN! That was freaking GREAT! Thanks!

  • She was built in December of 1944

  • Magnificent! Railways lost all their character when steam engines retired.

  • @MarsFKA not true the BN railroad and NS compare them their charecters were diffrent. all railroads from the 70s - throguh late 90s had big charecter.

  • The 844 is my favorite locomotive ever :)))

  • It's great seeing that powerful engine without any diesels behind it. Quite a heavy train, looks like!

  • very nice video

  • the locomotive is grey now black

  • Very impressive how quickly this big beast accelerates with a heavy train. There used to be a few clips on Youtube of New York Central Niagaras, engines very similar to UP 8444.

    Thanks johnr1960 for all your great steam posts!

  • One of the best videos on You Tube!

  • Excellent video, I hope I'm as lucky making video of this classic at the Keddie Wye on May 2.

  • BRING BACK the UP 2-tone gray paint scheme! I know RR'ers say that "real" steam engines are painted black but this UP844(4) scheme from the late 80's was attractive being very standout different. Perhaps when Steve Lee passes on the torch, we'll see this paint scheme resurrected...

  • I know what you mean. Have either 844 or 3985 (She was once in the gray scheme too) painted gray again! It would just be something different for a change...

  • well hell that was a classic paint scheme anyhow on the UPRR passenger trains I want it back too I still have yet to see the 844  never seen this engine but I am scheduled to rider er this July to the Cheyenne frontier days I hope we use 844 I have several photos of 3985 but none of the 844

  • I love her in black but I love her even more in the two-gray with small yellow stripes paint scheme even more. 124 miles per hour amazing. That is probably second to PRR 7002 here in the western hemisphere.

  • Awesome video! How fast was it going?

  • The train was going approx. 60 mph at the end of the video.

  • fantastic!!! 5*****

  • Top end ? The 844 video I have says 844 was once clocked, back in the day, at 124 miles per hour pulling a passenger train that had to get somewhere in a hurry. This engine was designed by Alco to run at 100 - 110 mph continuously. Take that - bullet trains!

  • Bullet trains run faster than that. 200 mph

    Also, the 844's top speed was 72

    So, you wanna try that again?

  • Top speed is a bit faster than that... On the 15th of april 2009 (just the other day) we clocked her in my car going 80mph along I-80 out of Lovelock, NV. And they weren't going all-out either.

    I have video to prove it, just cant get it on my computer as of yet.

    I think he was referring to the ORIGINAL "bullet trains", the steam powered ones.

    I agree, the gray paint scheme needs to come back.

  • Oh wow, it truly is a shame that diesels eventually took over the role of steam engines. I have been on the Virginia Railway Express, and it is just not fun. It would be much nicer to have these engines on the rails again, they were more fun! I would love to ride in the UP 844!

  • Awesome! I just love the gray passenger scheme! Bring it back UP!!

  • BAD.....ASS!!!!!

  • What a Thrill,, They Truley were the DAYS. Beautiful

  • top end is unknown my friend, tis only limited by the nerves of the engineer

  • How fast??????

  • What a slick looking train. The legendary 844 is amazing to watch in action.

  • This is the best run I have seen.

  • Nice one dude, it's amazing how fast it took for it to start moving.

  • It was so great that you managed to keep up with her for so long and show her in full action.A beautiful clip , thanks for filming this and sharing with us! :)

  • What are the chances that they would run out here to Maryland? Sure would be sweet to see her run past my house on a Sunday morning. You better believe I'd jump in the truck and catch her with camcorder in hand!!!!!

  • I love the grey paint scheme, don't know why they went back to black.

  • AWSOME video!!!!!

  • and just think, these are actually pulling the train instead of the modern engine acting as a generator driving the electric motors on the cars, just plain impressive

  • yea, think about. a steam locomotive yard, steam everywere. steam locmotives rushing by. and back then this was nothing but a part of metal.

  • WOW!!! What an impressive piece of history. It must have been amazing to see this monster in action. If only they would come to my town of Pueblo, Colorado. That would be quite the experience.

  • Actually man, the 844 was there at the State Fair last year, and they talked about bringing it back this year as well. We lived in Monument at the time, and went and sat at the tracks in Palmer Lake to watch it fly by. They ran from Denver to Pueblo and back. VERY impressive indeed! I could not believe the size of this thing when it went by...I believe those drivers are around 7 foot tall!

  • 80" in Diameter.

  • Good for high speed, yet it still manages to accelerate fast too. My thanks go to everyone involved in keeping this magnificent locomotive rolling.

  • a deisel broke down one time and the challenger was running excursion on the line it hooked up and pushed the freight tain as well as its own cars amazing power they have

  • It wasn't the challenger 3985, it was 844.

  • yeah it is a shame!!! steam engines rock. this is my favorite locomotive. ;^D

  • steam engines were so beautiful, much more so than these ugly diesels. Shame they eventually took over

  • US last-generation steam really rocks!

  • Nothing can beat the grace of a steam engine at full power.

  • Its scary how those heavy siderods fly around so quickly.

  • wow, I just noticed that at 1:37 you can hear the engineer open the throttle up.

  • Like God on Rails.

  • Beautiful sight. I wish these wonderful engines still reigned supreme on America's railroads. Imagine what a sight it would be to see this all the time in small towns and big cites across America from sea to shining sea.

  • the side pannels are there to stop smoke from getting t o the driver in tunnels

  • and it seems to work. The smoke is always 10 feet above the cab!

  • it gives me the heebie-jeebies. great.

  • 2:30 they are pouring the coal on! Awesome loco!

  • the 844 is oil-powered I believe

  • 844 is an oil burner just like SP 4449.

  • the locomotive is refitted to use oil/diesel in the fire box. this makes it easier to use the engine at this point. but the 4000 (4-8-8-4) class 3900 (4-6-6-4)class and the 4-8-4's all were at one time fired with coal. another draw back to coal is that to fire the unit best it should have the coal it was desined to burn. if not you may have a harder time.

  • Does anyone know why the engine has those side panels up front?

  • wonderful how you can hear the engineer open the regulator...my dream...

  • Do you know anyone who would have an extra copy of this video

    Thank YOU

  • wow look at her go!

  • Great video....Thanks...How often does this train run? I will be near Greeley in September and would love to see it. Where can I find info on its schedule....Thanks

  • It does not run very often. Go to the Union Pacific web site for more details.

  • how many r left of these beauties? is it the same 844 with a different color?

  • This is the only operating Northern that I know of. The 844 / 8444 has been in a couple of different color schemes over the years.

  • Do you sell these videos'

    thanks

  • I used to, but not any more.

  • FANTASTIC!!!

    CZART65 POLAND

  • Great Video, I love the sound of it just gaining POWER!!! Then the Whistle, Bad Ass!!

  • 844 has about 90k torque i suspect. as far as hispeed nobody really knows how fast it will go but it will do over 100mph for sure.the big boys could do 80mph . the challenger well that a different story but at least 80

  • Beautiful sight. I wish these wonderful engines still reigned supreme on America's railroads. Imagine what a sight it would be to see this all the time in small towns and big cites across America from sea to shining sea.

  • By far the best train video, thanks!

  • I live in Greeley and hear this train everyday...that was a lot of people hangin around watching it on the side of the road. Maybe it was more popular back in 89 to sit and watch trains. I got to see one while it was connecting all the cars in a chain reaction...was badass.

  • dude, I've said it before, but that is a truly incredible video! thanks a million!

  • Fan-bloody-tastic to see something like that on the move at speed.

  • great video

  • Greeley is a wonderful place to spot trains. That and the little town of Ault. I used to park my car right at the little park across from the Chinese restaurant and just train watch for hours.

    Damn I miss Colorado.

  • I cant get over how fast those connection rods are rotating up and down towards the end of the video. I mean those things gonna way a few thousand pounds!

  • Although the momentum of the rods is great at the 60 or so mph she was traveling at, she wasn't going all that fast. That engine doesn't develop its maximum horsepower until 90 mph, and is capable of sustained speeds of over 100 mph.

  • wow, impressive!!!

    usually I prefer steam-loko's from my country (germany), but american steam is just so "big" and "fundamental"!

    I am wondering how much torque this engine might develop?! probably beyond measurable...

    Greetz from Germany

  • WOW!! Absalutly, postitivaly beautiful!! Best steam engine video I've found so far!! The site and sound stir my soul. Thank you!

  • I watch this one about three times a week. I cant get enough.

  • "Bloody Good".Sounds better than the "Challenger".Especially when the driver "opens" her up.I am not a steam man myself,but,well, what can I say? Other than "Bloody Good"

  • hauling ass aint he hehe

  • Absolutely amazing display of geared human force :-)

    This has got to be the pinnacle of steam technology.

    How I would love to see it in real life.

    Thanks for posting

    R

  • history living history

    UNION PACIFIC RULES

  • the challenger burns 1500pounds of coal in an hour' compare that price with diesel fuel today?hm never know that 844 is a 4-8-4 configuration challenger is 4-6-6-4. with about 45percent more tractive effort too.

  • 844 is an oil burner now. She burns No. 5 furnace oil.

    If she burned coal, there'd be a completely opaque towering cloud of smoke coming out of that stack instead of just a little puff.

  • lol the car blows by @ 2:45, then about 15 seconds later you see him slowing way down and rubbernecking...he was NOT expecting that, me thinks.

  • You're right about the sound change at 1:30 range. Open her till you think she's gonna blow then back off just a tad!

    Does anyone have a cab video from a standing start? I'd love to see the activity required to get a hot & ready engine to start moving.

  • At about 1:36 you hear all hell break loose! The engineer gives her all she's got, the sound totally changes, and this old girl puts any modern day diesel engine to shame!

  • Wow...when you see that exhaust go "clean" they are running hard and making maximum horsepower, which in this case must be over 5,000hp! The torque in probably not measurable on any existing dyno...but it must be unbelievable. Again I say....the age of steam was a magical time that we will probably never see again. This is "beyond" horsepower! Just amazing! That engine is almost 100 feet long, so measure that against the surroundings to gage the speed. This is one "bad boy" to be sure!

  • And with $4+ diesel with no end in sight, the fact the US is sitting on the largest coal deposits on the planet, the economic viability of steam becomes a real option in the modern world. Just have to keep the tree huggers from putting the fire out.

  • Still enjoy watching this John :) :)

  • thanks thats great

  • Again I must say....most people have no idea how incredible those large steam locomotives are. They may have been replace by more efficient diesels, but the power they could make cannot be matched !!

  • I think most people have no idea what it takes to do what this steam engine is doing in this video! Near the end of the vid you will see the ehaust go nearly clean....that is "superheat steam" and serious horsepower...well above 5,000 horsepower! It would take several deisel engines to equal what this steam engine is doing in this vid! Just amazing! They may be old...but they are also BAD TO THE BONE !!!!!!!!!!

  • It's pretty cool

  • WOW! 3 minutes to 60 MPH? Amazing! I'd love to see an inside the cab video of this clip to see what it takes to go from a standing start to that speed. No doubt a blur of activity. Thanks for posting this.

  • Beautiful sight. Truly spectacular video. I wish these wonderful engines still reigned supreme on America's railroads. Imagine what a sight it would be in small towns and big cites across America. Imagine those great whistles once again echoing through small towns across the rural america and that wonderful sound it makes on the rails entering cities like Philadelphia and Chicago.

  • You can tell at 01:43 the engineer opens up the throttle/regulator and lets 'er rip. One of the most magnificent steam locomotive videos on You Tube.

  • Wow, I really enjoyed this video, seeing the engine start from nothing and get up to a terrific speed, wonderful! Congrats to videographer AND driver! Well done.

  • 844 great locomotive ill never forget my cab ride from cheyenn to lasalle hope they never stop running it

  • at .40 he puts the heat to the boiler and wham its off

  • that old engine could still do 100mph plus i think. you can tell wen he lets her go and put the heat to the boiler too .nice video.thanks 4 posting it .

  • Oh My Gawd....that is just AMAZING! The shear power and torque, just defies imagination. To think that there are bigger and more powerful steamers than this! We have truly lost our appreciation and understanding of steam in this modern day and age. I'm a gear head at heart, anything with a big motor and a manual transmission gets me going. But-to see this incredible display of raw power leaves me speechless. I don't think people really understand the physics involved with this video. WOW!

  • Woooooooo look at it go!!!

  • Had a different paint scheme back then. It's all black now.

  • why can't the union pacific continue there passgner service