Eastern Railroad Discussion > UP 844 goes from the "Western Board" to the "Eastern Board."

On Oct 22, UP 844 paid a visit to Memphis for the grand opening of the new biking/hiking trail which was built on the old westbound traffic lane of the Harahan Bridge over the Mississippi River.  The Harahan Bridge opened in 1916, was used by the Missouri Pacific, Cotton Belt, and Rock Island railroads (now all UP), and is a double track structure.  Highway lanes extended out on each side of the bridge and were used until shortly after the opening of the Memphis-Arkansas highway bridge in 1949.  A motion was made by the city of Memphis to the Union Pacific about using the vacant westbound highway lane for a biking/hiking trail and UP agreed to it (the westbound lane was chosen because it was on the north side and gives a beautiful view of the city skyline).  It's a very nice trail!  

In photo 1, the "Western Board" (Arkansas) view, the 844 starts up on the approach to the superstructure above the Arkansas flood plain.  I was unable to get a photo coming off the east end of the bridge itself due to extra tight security (the east end of the bridge has been under constant survelliance since shortly after 9-11), so my "Eastern Board" (Tennessee) view was taken at the public display in Memphis.  That is the nose of a westbound empty BNSF coal train that can be seen with the 844.  Photo 3 shows the whole train in Memphis.  The UP's MoPac heritage locomotive was added at Marion, Arkansas and brought over with the train as a nod to the MoPac heritage in Memphis.  It was not needed for power and was taken back off after the train returned to Marion.  UP 844 went back west from Marion with its train on Monday Oct 24, working its way back home to Cheyenne.              



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 14:43 by Rathole.

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Nice coverage! In #3 it looks like the "consist" is longer that the train. :^)

Lance

the bridge is covered for peds wow, seems nice