Engineer-Joe posted:Rusty Traque posted:The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation owns and maintains 4449. The UP had nothing to do with it, other than being stored in an ex-SP roundhouse that UP owned in Portland, Oregon until 2012.
Rusty
Thanks.
Hmmm. I thought HW worked for the UP steam program?
First, SP 4449 was donated to the city of Portland, OR by the SP, back in the late 1950s. The locomotive was subsequently selected to pull the American Freedom Train, "borrowed" from the City of Portland, and removed from Oaks Park in 1974 for restoration & overhaul. The Chief Mechanical Officer & Engineer was Doyle McCormack, who is still "in charge" of 4449 and any and all work, as part of the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. I was assigned to the crew of 4449 by EMD of GM, back in 1975 as liaison, and have been involved with 4449 ever since. The UP NEVER had anything to do with 4449, although Steve Lee and his crew were good friends with most of the 4449 crew members, i.e. professional courtesy.
Second, I was a contract Fireman for the UP Steam Crew, as needed for long trips, for some 17 years, retiring from that at the end of 2010, when Steve Lee retired from UP.
