Union Pacific 844 Big Steam Over Donner Pass 

I worked for The Southern Pacific and have made this trip, Sparks and back to Roseville when I was a Fireman. Used to see old steam engines lined up for the scrapyard after the diesels came in to service.Hearing this steam whistle really brings back memories of when I was a kid at night time. I'll be 80 this Jan. 12th 2019, was sorry to see these go especially the cab forward Mallets.

I love the echo of the whistle that travles through the mountains. So beautiful

844's whistle is a classic Union Pacific steam whistle. One of the best examples out there, and music of the angels when it echoes off the mountains!

14 coaches were not enough of a challenge, so they had her drag the three diesels along! Good show 844!

There is something romantic about a train that attracts the young and the old.

AAAAAHHH! Brings a lump to my throat every time I see/hear 844! I grew up in Cheyenne, and now live near Ft. Lupton, CO. I listened to the Frontier Days run to Cheyenne from Denver one afternoon, and heard that gorgeous whistle blowing grade crossings for almost 40 minutes! It's jaw-dropping just how far that sound carries! Thanks, guys!

Nothing like a steam locomotive whistle in the mountains..

844 was never retired from service, and has remained on UP's locomotive roster since its building. Despite the transition from steam to diesel, UP was smart enough to realize that there was a special feeling amongst railroaders and the public for these giants, and has to continued to operate 844 and others. Steam, tho not in general use, refused to die, and other roads as well (notably the Southern/NS), have run them in excursion service. As a NS retiree, I thank UP for its commitment to steam

The 844 is one of my all time favorite trains.

The diesels were for dynamic breaking and to help the train through Tunnel 41. At tunnel 41, 844 was shut off so it didn't blow smoke all over the crew.

The whistle at 2:22 is PRICELESS!!! (especially as you can't see her)

Good Documentary .. Thank you to those whose filmed these for our generation after this.. I liked it..

one of the best train watching videos on YT! It's worth it for the whistles alone!

2:03 2:15 That whistle sounds like a ghost!

For those lamenting the presence of the diesel helpers, when I was a young lad I got to see one of the last steamers still in service. Doing what? Helping the diesels up the Cuesta grade in California! Steam helping diesels! Nothing like steam for raw torque and great traction.

What a great sequence from 7mins through to 7.32secs - so impressive in its setting. Thanks from a UK steam fan in his mid-70s who knew the heyday of steam as a boy here across the pond.

Amazing video of an amazing machine. The scenery is gorgeous...Great job

For those complaining about the diesels, 1 they provide dynamic braking, which to my understanding is required by law. 2 they provide power to the rest of the train for the comfort of passengers. 3 IT'S DONNER PASS, can you blame them for bringing additional power along just in case 844 doesn't have enough?

Watching this from Norden on Donner Summit with real trains going by in the background as I watch this wonderful video. Thank you so much for capturing the splendor that is steam power. I got to see 844 in Oakland when it came through and wonder if it was around this time. Actually, I think a few years prior. Thanks for a great video.

Well done, with great "scene setting" (showing the area BEFORE the train enters, building suspense, etc.). Thank you.

Massive, brute-force steam power, unmatched anywhere else in the world. Heavyweight steel Pullman cars. Magnificent Rocky Mountain scenery. Can there be ANY finer presentation of what railroading SHOULD be like, anywhere else in the world? I think not.

Great chase!

Excellent camera work and choices of location. Very enjoyable!

Excellent video clips of a beastly loco in stunning scenery, regards from England!

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954.still get a tear in my eye when I hear an old train in the night.

Great filming Jake! I really loved seeing the old steamer, and also the Overland mountain line on the Eastern part of the Sacramento Division.

That was a fun day. Chased fro Truckee to Roseville.

Love the old steam in the lead engine of the UP

Union Pacific 4-8-4 844 travels along on the Southern Pacific's Overland Route to Sacramento, California for the 150th Anniversary of Union Pacific Railroad at The California State Railroad Museum. 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

You had me at the whistle “echo” 😃, kinda wish I had one to wake up the hand in front of me in the left lane on the interstate, I hate to get in his nap time but I’m hungry and a bit late for supper .........

Beautiful. I’d hate the thought of riding that incredible machine knowing it’s tainted by three nasty diesels.

Die Zugleistung dieser wunderschönen, mächtigen, Loks ist unwahrscheinlich groß.

The Overland Route still stands today by the Union Pacific.

Great shots of the 844.

I forgot to mention thanks for sharing.

on the diesel helpers: 1 - notice there are 3 of them. that is how many it takes to replace the traction effort of one steamer like 844. 2 - even back in the day 2 of these steamers would be required to pull Donner pass at this speed. amtrak runs 2 engines through central mn. where its mostly flat. also I have seen diesels spinning wheels in light rain or frost in the early morn up the western slope of the rockies in Co. with four or five locos on 40 and 50 car trains. 3 - don't know about the elevation here but both diesel and oil fired steam will decrease in power with decrease in oxygen, while coal produces more steam while burning rich at heavy draft... (spend days at every steam show at Rollag, Mn. for the last 17 years) 4-844 is working plenty hard, oil burns cleaner the hotter it is, if there was not a heavy draft we would see more smoke as when building a head of steam, there is heavy draft at this load so she's burning lean. 5 - you will not see a steam cloud from a tea kettle at the humidity level here in Ca., maybe 20%, if that. 6-if she has to stop to let freight pass she will be a very long time starting again, would even be a very slow start with sand, which tears the track to shreds, making even worse starts (less friction on an uneven surface) as it wears - steamers make maximum torque at zero rpms so that's when they are most likely to slip. 7-they are trying to keep pace with freight on the line to avoid a traffic jam and steamers do not make a lot of hp at high rpms and also don't have enough traction to run full throttle even at low speed on a grade like this. most diesels don't have enough traction to run maximum hp at this grade either, that's why there's three of them. 8 - good grief, besides all that you all can't spot a running diesel? in most of the shots there's a heat wave coming only from the one on the end. yes, you can hear them but they are not working hard or they will run rich and overheat at this altitude. that's why semis go so slow up mountain grades, not because they don't have the power but because they will overheat, again that's why there are 3 diesels- steamers don't overheat except if they run out of water. also, remember none of these engines has enough traction to pull this grade on their own, only the steamer could do it pulling at least 50 tons of sand to drop and probably at less than 5mph so the engineer could control spin-out. very hard to do with wheels that big and heavy. did I miss any thing?

I was breathlessly impressed until I saw the three assisting dieso's

I'm already afraid of falling down that canyon!! Serious engine power to pull up this area!!

Great scenery. Brilliant line, and the steam locomotive. Super!

Everytime I point out the diesel engines, someone tells me it is only to create electric power for the train. This one has three locomotives. They all can't be for electric generation.

Man, the 06:32 to 07:47 shot is just so abso-fuckin'-breathtaking-lutely awesome!!!

The landscape of California is slightly more scenic than Kansas and Nebraska. Good shots!

Steam=Soul. Diesel=Drab. External combustion=Excellent. Internal combustion=Inane.

Ya know... 70 years ago being a locomotive engineer on a large steam locomotive was an OK job. Now it's an awesome job and he's one of the luckiest guys alive!

I wish modern trains had beautiful whistles like this.

Loved 2:48 where you can see the steam comin round the bend

Very good footage And . GREAT sound

Outstanding video, you really chose some great locations.

Man I would love to see how 4014 would handle that grade. WITHOUT any diesel help.

I wonder will the Big Boy 4014 is next to climb Donner Pass in the future? That would be cool

I miss the mars light on 844 some people say that 844 looks better without it but to me it just doesn't feel the same without the mars light

5.45 Man, I LOVE that sound! Give me steam over diesel any day.

What a fun video to watch, and very well photographed too. It would be interesting to know how much planning you put into this, how you knew where to catch the train, etc . . . Regardless, very well done Jake. Cheers!

It looked like the diesels were pulling a few of those sections.

844 is going to be put back in action

There is also the matter of Head End Power (HEP), electricity for the lighting, air conditioning, etc. In steam days, each car had individual generators and batteries to store the power. Modern passenger cars get their electrical power from the engine. And, as mentioned dynamic braking on downgrades is an issue. The diesels can also kick in as helpers on heavy grades should the need arise, just as SP used steam back in the day.. But MOST of the tractive force is provided by 844.

I get it. And it's magnificent. Well done & thanks.

INCREDIBLE

I get the feeling the diesels were pulling pretty hard to help keep undue wear and tear on 844. Some of the scenes had the diesels screaming away big time.

My favorite 844 i took aliking one day when i hewrd a very strange ghostly whistle in riverdale area it was moving to ogden union station i went found it. At union station went right hy it since its been my favorite engine with ghostlly whistle it touches my heart go 844 go

Eh, call me when they've got 4294 running trains up there again.

I heard a tiny amount of wheel slip right about 3:40. That tells me 844 is working hard. Wouldn't happen if the Diesels were pushing.

Were those 3 diesel locos acting as helper units? Or were they isolated and just along for the ride? On the portion through Penryn, it sounded like the diesels were maybe using dynamic breaking?

Steam sounds cool

Up 844 está soprando o atualmente apito igual a voz do meu papai

That is one great whistle!

Up 844's whistle

Union Pacific is a true class 1 railroad!

Are the Diesels helping or are they just there in case 844 breaks down? Is 844 doing it all by itself?

I was there that day, we saw it leave Reno and chased it down.

For dynamic braking, perhaps?

Very nice video.

I wish these were 4K quality

The car names are usually related to the Union Pacific Railroad. For example Omaha is UP's headquarters while the Portland Rose was one of their famous passenger trains back in the day. You usually see them named after important people, places or trains.

My brother and his wife have a cabin in donner lake area i been there twice i been up near donner. Pass too

Thanks! Good stuff!

Really great echo!!

Up 844 goes crossing to donner pass

I went through this stretch on the California Zephyr in 2016

on the diesels helpers: 1 - notice there are 3 of them. that is how many it takes to replace the traction effort of one steamer like 844. 2 - even back in the day 2 of these steamers would be required to pull Donner pass at this speed. amtrak runs 2 engines through central mn. and I have seen diesels spinning wheels in light rain or frost in the early morn up the western slope in rockies of Co. with four or five locos on 40 and 50 car trains. 3 - don't know about the elevation here but both diesel and oil fired steam will decrease in power with decrease in oxygen, while coal produce more steam while burning rich at heavy draft... (spend days at every steam show at Rollag, Mn. for the last 17 years) 4-844 is working plenty hard, oil burns cleaner the hotter it is, if there was not a heavy draft we would see more smoke as when building a head of steam, there is heavy draft at this load so she's burning lean. 5 - you will not see a steam cloud from a tea kettle at the humidity level here in Ca., maybe 20%, if that. 6-if she has stop to let freight pass she will be a very long time starting again, would even be a very slow start with sand, which tears the track to shreds, making even worse to start (less friction on an uneven surface) as it wears - steamers make maximum torque at zero rpms so that's when they are most likely to slip. 7-they are trying to keep pace with freight on the line to avoid a traffic jam and steamers do not make a lot hp high rpms and also don't enough traction to run full throttle even at low speed on a grade like this. most diesels don't enough traction to run maximum hp at this grade either, that's why there's three of them. 8 - good grief, besides all that you all can't spot a running diesel? in most of the shots there's a heat wave coming only from one on the end. yes, you can hear them but they are not working hard or they will run rich and overheat at this altitude. also, remember none of these engines has enough traction to pull this grade on their own, only the steamer could do it pulling at least 50 tons of sand to drop and probably at less than 5mph so the engineer could control spin-out. very hard to do with wheels that big and heavy. did I miss any thing?

I wonder how the three diesels feel about the 844 heading up the train when they are doing most of the work? Great video, great engine! Long live the 844!

I hope they brought extra food this time.

Awesome when she runs over modern track with concrete sleepers.

Does this train run annually? And maybe during the Holidays ???

How many pushers behind 844?

The steam is clearly being pushed. ugh.

Great filming of a great locomotive and it is totally ok with me to see diesels with it, just to bad one is a ge.

A lot of of work goes into restoring those steam locomotives, and a lot of capital. There's no way they are going to let that locomotive ware out its parts hauling load like that. The main reason steamers were retired is because they're maintenance nightmares. Those diesels are handling that consist all around. Another way you can tell is the lack of heavy dark smoke from the stack and plumes of steam from the pistons. But she's doing a hell of a job just looking pretty.

The old steamer is having an easy time. Not much exhaust steam is evident even when supposedly pulling hard, The diesels are doing the donkey work whilst the steamer is there to look good and make sufficient steam for it's whistle!

What a magic sound!

Come on, why the 3 diesels? 844 can handle the journey with one at the most. Probably with no diesels at all.

Up 844 going to sacramento

UNION PACIFICS COLOR BLENDS WELL WITH THE RUGGED MOUNTAIN RANGE

this i great vid. thnaks. any videos of up 3985? i have seen it twice, but sorry no pix or videos.

There aint no dubbing in of sound there mate. The sound fits perfectly with the scenes and that's very moderate use indeed and I can't believe the yanks aren't baying for your blood after saying it was a crappy whistle.

At 10:20, where does that spur lead to on the left-hand side of the screen? Looks like it has had its switch removed…

In the first part of this video, does anyone notice something walking across the tracks before the scene changes to the train passing the first time?

Sir you just killed the moment... LMAO

They should have put the diesels at the end and had only the steamer up front. Of course I don't know if this is even possible, I'm only talking aesthetics.

Stays on that horn going run out of steam.