Southern Pacific 4449

Southern Pacific 4449

SP 4449 under steam in Tacoma, WA in June, 2011.

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Lima Locomotive Works Serial number 7817 Build date May 1941

Specifications Configuration 4-8-4 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 80 in (2,032 mm) Adhesive weight 275,700 lb (125,100 kg) Loco weight 475,000 lb (215,000 kg) Total weight 788,730 lb (357,760 kg) Fuel type Bunker oil Cylinder size 25.5 in × 32 in (648 mm × 813 mm) dia × stroke

Performance figures Maximum speed 110 mph (180 km/h) Power output 5,500 hp (4,100 kW) Tractive effort 66,326 lbf (295,030 N), 78,000 lbf (350,000 N) with booster Factor of adh. 4.16

Career Operators Southern Pacific Class GS-4 Number in class 28 Numbers 4449 Nicknames "The Daylight" First run May 30, 1941 Retired October 2, 1957 Restored April 21, 1975 Current owner City of Portland, Oregon Disposition Operational; based in Portland, Oregon, at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center

Southern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's (SP) (today Union Pacific). GS-4 class of steam locomotives. There is one other GS-class locomotive surviving, but it is a GS-6. The locomotive is a streamlined 4-8-4 (Northern) type steam locomotive. GS is abbreviated from "Golden State", a nickname for California (where the locomotive was operated in regular service), or "General Service". The locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, for SP in May 1941; it received the red-and-orange "Daylight" paint scheme for the passenger trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1956 and put into storage. In 1958 it was donated, by the railroad, to the City of Portland, who then put it on static display in Oaks Amusement Park, where it remained until 1974. It was restored to operation for use in the American Freedom Train, which toured the 48 contiguous United States for the American Bicentennial celebrations. Since then, 4449 has been operated in excursion service throughout the continental US; its operations are based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, where it is maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers called Friends of SP 4449. In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers chose the 4449 as the most popular locomotive in the nation.

4449 was the last engine manufactured in Southern Pacific's first order of GS-4 (Golden State/General Service) locomotives. 4449 was placed into service on May 30, 1941, and spent its early career assigned to the Coast Daylight, SP's premier passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, but it also pulled many other of the SP's named passenger trains. After the arrival of newer GS-4s and GS-5s, 4449 was assigned to Golden State Route and Sunset Route passenger trains. 4449 was reassigned to the Coast Division in the early 1950s. One of 4449's career highlights happened on October 17, 1954, when 4449 and sister 4447 pulled a special 10-car train for the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society from Los Angeles to Owenyo, California, and return. In 1955, after being one of the last few Daylight steam engines in Daylight livery, 4449 was painted black and silver and its side skirting (a streamlining feature of the Daylight steam engines) was removed due to dieselization of the Coast Daylight in January of that year. 4449 was then assigned to Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Valley line, occasionally pulling passenger trains such as the San Joaquin Daylight between Oakland and Bakersfield as well as fast freight and helper service. 4449 was semi-retired from service on September 24, 1956, and was kept as an emergency back-up locomotive until it was officially retired on October 2, 1957, and was placed in storage along with several other GS-class engines near Southern Pacific's Bakersfield roundhouse.