What is the name of the private passenger train pulled by Southern Pacific’s massive steam locomotive sp4449?
449 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 re-assigned 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 dieselizat
“The Daylight Special,” a private passenger train pulled by Southern Pacific’s massive steam locomotive 4449, will travel through northern Illinois Saturday on its way from Minneapolis to Chicago. Pulling vintage passenger cars, SP 4449 will run the route of the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, now BNSF, through La Crosse, Wis., and the Illinois communities of East Dubuque, Savanna, Chadwick and Milledgeville. The excursion is one leg of a 5,000-mile journey for the restored locomotive making its way across the country from Portland, Ore., to Owosso, Mich., for Train Festival 2009. Sources: http://www.clintonherald.com/local/local_story_198103522.
