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SP 4449 was built in 1941 as a GS-4 "Northern" type locomotive. A 4-8-4 wheel arrangement, she is 110' long, 10' wide and 16' tall. The locomotive and tender weighs 433 tons, and it operates with a boiler pressure of 300 psi. Her eight 80" diameter drivers and unique booster truck can apply 5,500 horsepower to the rails and exceed 100 mph. The only remaining operable "streamlined" steam locomotive of the Art Deco era, this grand Lady of the High Iron pulled Southern Pacific "Daylight" coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until 1955. Retired to static display at Oaks Park in 1958, most thought SP 4449 would never run again.

Vern took the photos left and above.
< SP 4449 just west of Green River Bridge
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A few years later, my friend Ernie caught 4449's CHOO CHOO
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In Auburn, WA
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SP4449 came to a stop before it continued its tour back to Portland.

The tracks from Seattle to Portland are visible along the left side of the photo. Vern knows these tracks well because back in 1988 he was the engineer who supervised the placing of conduit for A.T.& T. along the tracks from Seattle to Portland.

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The Southern Pacific Excursion on this date was an over night trip from Portland, up the Columbia River, through Yakama, over the Cascade Mountain Range via Stampede Pass,, and down to the point where this report is made.

There is another set of tracks over the Cascades up along U.S. Hwy. 2 from Wenatchee. The tracks run through a series of 4 tunnels at Stevens Pass.

There is a third tunnel through the Cascades, but it was closed in 1980. The Snoqualmie Tunnel which the Milwaukee Railroad tracks run through. It is now part of the Iron Horse State Park.