Steam & Excursion > "Headin' Home" with 8444 --a series 1 of 10

I'm going to borrow an idea from BoilingMan's recent excellent photo series covering replacement of a culvert in Colfax, CA and do a series on 8444 when it returned from the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair to Omaha on January 23-31 1985. We named the trip "Headin Home". The long way home took us through some new territory for 8444 in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and finally Nebraska from warm southern weather to near blizzard conditions in Kansas. Come along for the ride. Maybe you'll see a familiar face or two. Any corrections or additions are most welcome. All the photos are by Doug Walton, Union Pacific company photographer.

I am going start off in Louisiana where we made some stops to give away World's Fair posters to school kids. I remember one school teacher warning me not to yell "free" in front of the kids since that could start a stampede. I don't remember the town where this happened, but safe to say we didn't come home with any left over posters. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way! The man in the baggage car is Mike Boltin, head of the UP Dining Car & Hotel Department (DC&H).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/18 14:04 by Copy19.

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That's a great photo of Mike. As I recall Art Lockman told me they had to replace the wooden bumper on the front pilot after all the visitors took chips off of the one they had with them before the display.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> That's a great photo of Mike. As I recall Art
> Lockman told me they had to replace the wooden
> bumper on the front pilot after all the visitors
> took chips off of the one they had with them
> before the display.


I remember Art wasn’t very happy about leaving 8444 in New Orleans after we delivered it for the fair. I think he was afraid more would be missing than wood from the pilot.

I recognized Mike right away. He was a great Guy. So sad he is no longer with us.
Steve