Southern Pacific 4449 "The Daylight" - .03 Ghosts of the Northern

Southern Pacific 4449 was built in May 1944 and was operated until 1956, when she was placed in storage.

During her service life, 4449 was assigned to the Coast Daylight express passenger train, and led many of Southern Pacific’s other named trains. She was kept as a backup locomotive from September 1956 to October 1957.

In 1958, 4449 was donated to the City of Portland, Oregon, and was place on static display until 1974. 4449 was brought back to life for the 1976 American Freedom Train as part of America’s Bicentennial celebration.

4449 is currently based out of Portland, Oregon and is maintained by the Friends of SP 4449. She is known by railfans as “The Daylight” or “The Queen of Steam” and continues to be one of the most popular steam engines in North America.

The Northern Type steam locomotive was a triumph of American steam railroading. First introduced in 1926, these beasts roamed the coastlines and mountain passes of the nation’s busiest routes until as late as 1963.

They were fast, strong, reliable, versatile, and were very popular with passengers. The locomotives were characterized by their eight 80-inch diameter driving wheels and four supporting wheels on each end of the massive boiler.

They were called by many names: “Greenbrier”, “Dixie”, “Niagara”, and “Potomac,” just to name a few, but their most common name was “Northern”, and so they are commonly known today.

Many were preserved after retirement and one even remains active on the locomotive roster of a Class I railroad to this day. These engines are like ghosts of the rails. Specters, haunting the line, crying out after a bygone era, the like of which had never been seen before, nor ever will be seen again.

Music By Peter Iverson
Unpublished work copyright (c) 2022 by Peter Ian Iverson

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