Steam & Excursion > Back in Steam - 50 years ago today!

From the April 2025 Issue of The Trainmaster 

Text by T. Trent Stetz and Ed Immel  

Restoration work on the SP 4449 was rapidly approaching completion in April 1975, after about a total of 9000 donated labor hours of work since starting on December 14, 1974. After being on house steam for the better part of two days, the locomotive was fired up by the American Freedom Train (AFT) crew for the first time at 12:56 PM (PDT) on April 21, 1975, the 129th day of restoration work. Between 7:30 to 7:45 PM the same day the locomotive moved out of the Burlington Northern Hoyt Street roundhouse for the first time with 200 psi of steam. [See photo below].

The AFT paint scheme on the locomotive was not yet complete at this time; some was still wet that day! The white & black painting was mostly finished, but not the red or blue. The locomotive was tested on the Hoyt Street roundhouse leads and sand track several times over the next few days. On Sat. April 26, the 4449 was operated again for several hours on the yard lead tracks. After the first operation was completed, installation of the “new” skirting began on the locomotive. Skirting was not on the locomotive at the time of donation to the City of Portland on April 24, 1958. It was exactly the same “Style” as when the locomotive was built except that some of the access doors were a bit different. The skirting was mostly bolted on to facilitate removal of large sections if needed. The largest doors are full depth sections hinged to provide access to the air compressors. An interesting feature of the skirting was that it has expansion joints next to the cab, the joints being required due to the lengthwise expansion of the boiler when hot. 

Total expenses, excluding labor, was about $85,000 [about $475,000 in 2025 dollars], against an original estimate of $75,000.The 4449 was being painted to match the American Freedom Train cars. The skirts on the locomotive were later painted red and blue with white borders. The lower part of the boiler jacket was white (this area was red in the Daylight color scheme). The American Freedom Train red shade was a very dark red-orange. The blue appeared to have a violet cast. The pilot was later painted blue. The smoke box front remains in aluminum paint as when operated by the Southern Pacific. The red, white and blue paint used was a type of enamel which retains a high gloss and does not fade. The 4449, unlike most locomotives, had three "voices" at this time. In addition to the usual bell and steam whistle, there was an air horn. The whistle used on the locomotive at this time was originally used on one of the SP&S Z-8 class 4-6-6-4 Challengers and sounds the same as the Union Pacific No. 8444.  

References:

Progress Report on Locomotive 4449, by Ed Immel, From The Trainmaster,  May 1975, No. 183.

Daylight: 4449's Family Album, by Kenneth Johnsen, Self Published, 1984.

Those Daylight 4-8-4s: The Complete Story of Southern Pacific GS Class 4400 Series Locomotives, by R. J. Church, Kratville Publications, 1976.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/25 14:24 by TTStetz3.

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Another photo provided by Ken Johnsen of the SP4449 on April 21, 1975.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/25 14:25 by TTStetz3.

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Here she is moving off the Hoyt Street turntable for the first time.

Martin

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Here's Joe Karal setting the pops shortly after it pulled out of the roundhouse.  I took the photo facing eastward from the roof of the powerhouse portion of the roundhouse.  I was free to follow all of the excitement of that day as at that time I was working a Vancouver 10:30 PM switch engine, job #MX19. 

This roundhouse holds many memories for me.  I started my railroad career here as the day laborer on the first day of the last third of the 20th century and entered engine service here as a hostler helper 31 days later on the 30th anniversary of my father's SP&S firing date.  Eight months later I was glad to have my fireman's rules card signed by the editor of the SP&S employee's magazine The Dope Bucket who was also a classmate of my mother four decades earlier in the SP&S end-of-branch town of Goldendale.

I was very grateful to be a guest in the cab with Doyle on one of the legs of the Freedom Train.  It was originally planned to be from North Little Rock, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee in April 1976.  At that time I was on vacation from Burlington Northern and courting my late wife Alyce who was teaching Junior High School physical education in Marianna, Arkansas, about two-thirds of the way from Little Rock to Memphis.  Some railroad bigwigs showed up and I got bumped from the cab before departing North Little Rock but was able to ride the next leg between Memphis, Tennessee and Jackson, Mississippi.  It was a day I'll never forget.

Edit:  I apologize for the obtrusive size of the rules card in the original posting.  I finally found my software to reduce it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/25 22:46 by Jim700.

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Every time I see pictures of SP 4449 leaving the roundhouse after its restoration, I always say to myself there is no way you could restore a steam locomotive to service in 5 months. It really is a tribute to the folks that accomplished that task, in what must be world record time. 50 years later SP 4449 is still ready to hit the road.

OliveHeights Wrote:
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> Every time I see pictures of SP 4449 leaving the
> roundhouse after its restoration, I always say to
> myself there is no way you could restore a steam
> locomotive to service in 5 months. It really is a
> tribute to the folks that accomplished that task,
> in what must be world record time. 50 years later
> SP 4449 is still ready to hit the road.

That's nothing. Reading 2101 a.k.a. American Freedom Train #1 was restored to service for the same train in a mere 30 days!