Happy Birthday To GS-4 Locomotive #4449 "The Queen Of Steam"


 Like many Americans I first fell in love with ex Southern Pacific GS-4 steam locomotive #4449 way back in 1976 when it was chosen as one of several restored such locomotives to pull the American Freedom Train on its tour of the country.

Known to many as the Queen of Steam #4449 rolled off the assembly line at Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio eighty years ago this week. Within ten days of being delivered to the Southern Pacific Railroad in California the locomotive was put into service pulling the lines prestigious 'Daylight'  passenger trains traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The famed locomotive would continue to pull these twice-a-day passenger trains until the early 1950s when diesel locomotives began to outnumber steamers. 4449 would spend the twilight of its service on the Southern Pacific pulling less famous passenger trains and an occasional freight train in California's central valley area until it was retired in 1956.

In 1958 the locomotive was donated to the city of Portland, Oregon where it stayed on display in a local amusement park until it was selected in 1974 to be restored in preparation for service on the American Freedom Train to celebrate the nation's bicentennial.

Freedom Train History:

A second freedom train, the American Freedom Train, toured the country in 1975–76 to commemorate the United States Bicentennial. This 26-car train was powered by three newly restored steam locomotives. The first to pull the train was the former Reading Company T-1 class 4-8-4 #2101. The second was the former Southern Pacific 4449, a large 4-8-4 steam locomotive that is still operating in special excursion service today. The third was the former Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 #610, which pulled the train in Texas. Due to light rail loadings and track conditions on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, diesels hauled the train from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama. Diesels were also required in Chicago after the steam locomotive derailed attempting to negotiate tracks by the Chicago lakefront.

 The train itself consisted of 10 display cars, converted from New York Central and Penn Central baggage cars. They carried more than 500 treasures of Americana, including George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland's dress from The Wizard of Oz, Joe Frazier's boxing trunks, Martin Luther King Jr.'s pulpit and robes, replicas of Jesse Owens' four Olympic gold medals from 1936 (one of which was stolen somewhere along the way), a pair of Wilt Chamberlain's basketball shoes, and a rock from the Moon. 

 Its tour of all 48 contiguous states lasted from April 1, 1975, until December 31, 1976. More than 7 million Americans visited the train during its tour, while millions more stood trackside to see it go by.


Today The Queen of Steam is kept in pristine running condition and pulls special excursion trains on a regular basis. When the locomotive is not is service it is based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon where it is maintained by a group of volunteers named the Friends of SP 4449. In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers selected 4449 as being the most popular locomotive in the nation.


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