There comes a day when you realize you have gone full circle and are right back where you began. In this instance I am not referring to physically but rather when we come back to what got us into the hobby. Now this could mean a couple things as discussed earlier I grew up railfanning the Stevens Pass area of Washington State in the late 80's and early 90's. Dont worry I am not changing my prototype, my dad models that area so if I ever need to scratch that itch I talk to him.
Its more along the lines that as I was researching the Sunset Route the other day something caught my attention and made me reflect on that seminal moment when I decided I wanted to seriously get into model trains. As I have stated previously it was Presidents Day 1989 and Southern Pacific 4449 was making a run over Stevens Pass to Wenatchee, Washington as part of the Washington State Centennial Celebration.
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| A later encounter with SP 4449 on BNSF rails east of Vancouver WA in Summer 2001. A few months later in response to the attacks of September 11 she was returned to her American Freedom Train colors. |
So how do we get from the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State to the desert of Arizona? The answer is Facebook; more specifically a group on Facebook devoted to the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was in this group that some pictures of 4449 were shared from two of the occasions that she made an appearance on the Sunset Route in excursion service. This got me thinking how many times had the 4449 made an appearance on the Sunset Route, and specifically in the areas I am modeling, since she was restored to active service?
Counting directional movements and not roundtrips the number I come up with is six. Twice in American Freedom Train colors and four times in the classic Daylight colors. These apearances are as follows:
January 1976 eastbound as the American Freedom Train.
April 1977 westbound as Amtrak's Transcontinental Steam Excursion (return to Portland from AFT service).
1984 eastbound and westbound as the Louisiana Worlds Fair Daylight.
1986 eastbound to Ferrum for the filming of the movie "Tough Guys" with a westbound return trip.
Other than the lines in and around Portland, the Shasta Route and parts of the former Buington Northern, the Sunset Route provides me with more chances to run this locomotive than if I had modeled another locale such as Donner Pass or the Siskiyou Line. Even more interesting is I read on the internet (so it must be true) that for a period during the 1940's 4449 was based out of Yuma, so if I decide to backdate the layout to the 40's the 4449 can be a part of it. Of course most new locomotives were delivered via El Paso so they would have come through Yuma on their way west, but to be based out of Yuma provides many more opportunities to feature this famous locomotive and there is photo graphic evidence to back it up in the Barriger Collection:
We truly have come full circle.
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