Southern Pacific

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I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. The Southern Pacific railroad will always be my favorite railroad!

SP 4449

Steve Sloan's Trains : UP : Southern Pacific : Locomotives 4449

Click on the following links to see pictures related to SP 4449:

SP 4449 Lima 4-8-4, SP Class GS-4

SP 4449 is a Lima 4-8-4, SP Class GS-4. Reportedly: SP 4449 was built in 1941 by Lima as a model GS-4, builders number 7817, SP 4449, SP Class GS-4. In 1956 the locomotive was pulled from Storage by SP and donated to the City of Portland. This locomotive is currently owned by the City of Portland, Oregon.
SP 4449 on the way to Sacramento in 1975
SP 4449 is leading some passenger cars on Saturday, June 21, 1975 on the way to Sacramento, CA, photo near El Camino Ave. in Sacramento, CA.
SP 4449 in Sacramento in 1975
SP 4449 and SP 1 (the C.P. Huntington) were both on display in Sacramento on Sunday, June 22, 1975.
  • Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL:
    Photo by my dad Lloyd D. Sloan. Scanned from and 8x10 print from a Kodachrome slide.
    From Photo Album 1001.1.32.1, Scan 2018.2.25.1.6-ph
SP 4449 at night in Sparks in 1975
On Monday, November 24, 1975, SP 4449 in Freedom Train colors is laying over for the night in Sparks, Nevada. The American Freedom Train was in Reno/Sparks, Nevada, November 24-26, 1975. This was the train's 45th display city. It was displayed next to the Nugget Casino, 14th and Nugget Ave. From there it went to Sacramento.
Steaming towards Sacramento
On Thanksgiving Thursday, November 27, 1975, the American Freedom Train traveled from Reno, NV to Sacramento, CA. The American Freedom Train with SP 4449 on the point is approaching Roseville, enroute to Sacramento, CA and display.
SP 4449 at in Martinez in 1975
Early on the cold morning of Thursday, December 4, 1975 the American Freedom Train with 4449 on the point makes a brief stop in Martinez, CA enroute to Oakland, CA and display.
SP 4449 in Martinez in 1977
SP 4449 on the Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion, captured heading eastbound at Martinez, CA on Friday, April 29, 1977.
Steam in the Cascades
On Saturday, April 25, 1981, SP 9338 and SSW 9373 helped 4449 from Oakridge to Cascade Summit as it was heading south to Railfair 1981, the Grand Opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA. In this photo the train is at Wicopee, OR in the Cascades.
SP 4449 near Dunsmuir in 1984
On Saturday, June 23, 1984, my older sons and I chased the daylight train to Portland. This photo was taken as it was approaching Dunsmuir.
SP 4449 Video, Shasta line to Portland, 1984
From some super8 movies I shot starting on June 23, 1984 during the 1980's converted to digital video. This short movie clip was made of the World's Fair Daylight returning to Portland in June 1984. My then very young sons and I chased the train north. This video is unpublished and features a full daylight train with McCloud steam, SP, Amtrak and even some BCR Alco action. Since the film was silent, some music from the band Everyday Jones was dubbed in to give it a bit of a Winterail flavor.
That Nose!
Portland owned Southern Pacific (SP) 4449 is at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, OR, on Saturday, March 25, 2023.

Related Links

4449 on Wikipedia
A pretty accurate and concise telling of the 4449 story.
Friends of SP 4449
A non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration, maintenance, and operation of the former Southern Pacific steam locomotive based in Portland, Oregon.
Freedom Train.org
This site has a ton of informatin and a very useful timeline for the American Freedom Train.
Transcontinental Steam Excursion train
In April 1977, a special Amtrak-sponsored Transcontinental Steam Excursion train was led by Southern Pacific steam locomotive No. 4449.
Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF)
The ORHF mission is to secure a permanent home for the City of Portland’s steam locomotives and establish a Rail and Industrial Heritage Museum.
Preamble Express
In preparation for the Bicentennial journey of the American Freedom Train, the four-car Preamble Express was dispatched to scout the route and court host city officials. For five months in the summer and fall of 1974 the Preamble Express made calls in all 48 contiguous states. Dozens of display sites were evaluated and hundreds of local officials and law enforcement were informed of the requirements to host America's largest Bicentennial event.

Special Notes

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NOTE: If anything is my "life's work" it's my train photos. — If you scan an analog photo of mine, or if you share a digital photo I took that does not have my photo credit, add something like "Photo by Steve Sloan" directly onto the image. It's not enough to say "Photo by Steve Sloan" in the text caption. People download photos off the Internet/Social Media platform and whatever is in the text does not stick to the photo. Then, they get reshared and that data is lost. I deserve credit for my work.

You may not use my photos for profit and/or as part of, or to sell, a product or service without my consent.

Special Thanks!

To all the great folks who helped me out with information for these Web pages!

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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