American Freedom Train #4449

My good friend Ned called me at 5 a.m. one morning in 2010. He said, “Grab your camera; we’re going to photograph the Southern Pacific 4449!” I love trains and over the years have found that I am not alone. SP 4449 was a beauty and a real treat to watch as she pulled through the Sunset Junction building a head of steam for her final voyage home to Portland, Oregon. SP 4449 was built in 1941 as a GS-4 “Northern” type locomotive. A 4-8-4 wheel arrangement, she is 110’ long, 10’ wide and 16’ tall. The locomotive and tender weighs 433 tons and it operates with a boiler pressure of 300 psi. Her eight 80” diameter drivers and unique booster truck can apply 5,500 horsepower to the rails and exceed 100 mph. The only remaining operable “streamlined” steam locomotive of the Art Deco era, this grand Lady of the High Iron pulled Southern Pacific “daylight” coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until 1955. Retired to static display at Oaks Par