Nostalgia & History > UP E9 units to the rescue - Cheyenne -- Feb 75

E9 960 and  E9B 974B came to the rescue at Cheyenne on a steam excursion.
Earlier that morning, UP 8444 left Denver on an excursion to (I think) Laramie bypassing Cheyenne.
A few of us had come to Denver to see and chase the excursion. It was the first time I had seen the engine.  
We chased it north for a while but the weather and icy roads made it rough to keep up. Back then 8444 was operating at passenger train speeds.
Anyway we gave up and decided to have a nice quiet day at Cheyenne. The San Francisco Zephyr, UP yards and roundhouse were a draw there. We were still getting shots here and there when I suddenly noticed UP passenger cars coming in to the station - quiet time was over. 400 or so railfans were arriving after 8444 had a mechanical issue (someone may remember this trip and what happened to the steamer).
8444 was cut off and taken to the roundhouse while UP had to get the train back to Denver.
No problem as they fire up a couple of E units. It was less than 4 years since 960 was leading the City trains. Even at this time UP E units were occasionally used on the headend of the San Francisco Zephyr.
I was quite happy - it was the first time I had seen any UP E units
No time was wasted after they were connected to the train.
In the third shot UP 3985 was on static display and can be seen to the left.
960 and 974B were built in 1955 and retired in 1980.
Gary 

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Wow that E unit is a thing of beauty but what caught my eye in the second shot was the 1972 Ford Courier pickup truck, complete with UP shield logo on the door.  My dad had one of those and we made a lot of trips to Cajon, Tehachapi, Colton Tower and other great locations in it.  But ours did not have the cool UP logo....
 

the e's for awhile were used every day on amtrak  to get incentive pyments for the UP with the sdp's til around 1980

Great Shots!

Randy Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Those pictures make you feel like you are standing right there!

hotrail Wrote:
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> Wow that E unit is a thing of beauty but what
> caught my eye in the second shot was the 1972 Ford
> Courier pickup truck, complete with UP shield logo
> on the door.  My dad had one of those and we made
> a lot of trips to Cajon, Tehachapi, Colton Tower
> and other great locations in it.  But ours did
> not have the cool UP logo....
>  

I'm glad someone else mentioned this. I currently am restoring a '73 model of the Courier. I might have to paint it Armour yellow now.

TexasRocket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hotrail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Wow that E unit is a thing of beauty but what
> > caught my eye in the second shot was the 1972
> Ford
> > Courier pickup truck, complete with UP shield
> logo
> > on the door.  My dad had one of those and we
> made
> > a lot of trips to Cajon, Tehachapi, Colton
> Tower
> > and other great locations in it.  But ours did
> > not have the cool UP logo....
> >  
>
> I'm glad someone else mentioned this. I currently
> am restoring a '73 model of the Courier. I might
> have to paint it Armour yellow now.

Here it is a little closer.
Gary

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It was Christmas of 1978 that we, the 3985 restoration committee, got the idea to get 3985 out and running.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Great pics, thanks for sharing. Seems like kind of an odd time of the year to have an excursion. Looks Wyoming cold there. 

What was the steam crew the #8444 had back in 1975?

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> It was Christmas of 1978 that we, the 3985
> restoration committee, got the idea to get 3985
> out and running.

Predecessor to the Ford Ranger.

hotrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow that E unit is a thing of beauty but what
> caught my eye in the second shot was the 1972 Ford
> Courier pickup truck, complete with UP shield logo
> on the door.  My dad had one of those and we made
> a lot of trips to Cajon, Tehachapi, Colton Tower
> and other great locations in it.  But ours did
> not have the cool UP logo....
>  

Great shots!  Love those E units! 

I think this incident may have been written up in a mid-1970's edition of Trains magazine in an article by Ted Benson.

Topfuel Wrote:
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> I think this incident may have been written up in
> a mid-1970's edition of Trains magazine in an
> article by Ted Benson.

The Ted Benson article appeared in the February, 1976 issue of Trains.

From the article;  Machinists at Cheyenne had determined the packing in 8444's right cylinder had deteriorated, destroying the valve cage.  The left cylinder showed signs of similar internal wear. The railroad declared the damage would be corrected with new valve cages, rings, spools, and fresh cylinder packing.  In addition, a complete overhaul of pistons, main and side rods, valve motion, and crossheads was scheduled. 

I was was on that trip.  It was my first excursion with the 8444.  Since Omaha was my home town, I had chased and paced it several times before that trip.

Kennard Britton
Bedford, TX
 

hotrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow that E unit is a thing of beauty but what
> caught my eye in the second shot was the 1972 Ford
> Courier pickup truck, complete with UP shield logo
> on the door.  My dad had one of those and we made
> a lot of trips to Cajon, Tehachapi, Colton Tower
> and other great locations in it.  But ours did
> not have the cool UP logo....

Here's a shot of myself and my 1974 Courrier taken on Tehachapi in 1975 while waiting for the American Freedom Train.-BMT

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check the ash tray officer

I think the "steam crew" in that time period was made up of maangement people from the Mchanical Department

kennbritt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Topfuel Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think this incident may have been written up
> in
> > a mid-1970's edition of Trains magazine in an
> > article by Ted Benson.
>
> The Ted Benson article appeared in the February,
> 1976 issue of Trains.
>
> From the article;  Machinists at Cheyenne had
> determined the packing in 8444's right cylinder
> had deteriorated, destroying the valve cage.  The
> left cylinder showed signs of similar internal
> wear. The railroad declared the damage would be
> corrected with new valve cages, rings, spools, and
> fresh cylinder packing.  In addition, a complete
> overhaul of pistons, main and side rods, valve
> motion, and crossheads was scheduled. 
>
> I was was on that trip.  It was my first
> excursion with the 8444.  Since Omaha was my home
> town, I had chased and paced it several times
> before that trip.
>
> Kennard Britton
> Bedford, TX
>  

And it didn't take 3 years to do it!

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