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Building Union Pacific 844 by John Bush Birth of the FEF-3 steam class Soft Cove
Building Union Pacific 844 by John Bush
Soft Cover
The birth of the FEF-3 steam class
Copyright 2013
56 Pages
Contents
Acknowledgements 2Service Years of the FEF-3 Series 31
Introduction: W.A. Fleischer and the 844 5Retirement of the FEF-3 Series 37
A Need for the FEF-3 Series 9Epilogue: Special FEF-3 Operations 41
Construction of the FEF-3 Series 13Appendix 47
Identifiable Modifications to the FEF-3 Series 27Bibliography 56
Some 70 years after its construction, Union Pacific Railroad steam locomotive No. 844 continues to be familiar to generations of rail enthusiasts. Its many public excursions and exhibitions for the railroad has allowed the eminent 4-8-4 type to evoke the era when steam propelled the Union Pacific. Often recited as part of the romance regarding No. 844 is that, when erected in December 1944, it was the Iasi steam locomotive built for Union Pacific. However, until recently, few details were available regarding a day-by-day accounting of the activity that involved the actual construction of 844. It turns out that a chance discovery in a household attic has yielded additional information about this process.
The discovery brings to light a series of communications that W.A. Fleischer, a career UP employee, had with the railroad's headquarters in Omaha, Neb. In these messages, Fleischer reported on the various stages of construction involving ten UP 4-8-4 steam locomotives, Nos. 835-844, that were erected in 1944 during the turbulent period of World War II. Classified as FEF-3 (Four-Eight-Four, third series) by Union Pacific, these engines were completed about 15 years before diesels took over all the work formerly done by steam on the railroad.
As Union Pacific's representative to the large locomotive manufacturing firm that constructed the 844 and her "sister" engines of the FEF-3 series, W.A. Fleischer was in a prime position to play an important role in the original construction of 844. Yet as is often the case, the name of an individual can fade into obscurity while a popular product that he or she helped to create lives on in perpetuity. While it is no longer possible to recount all of the personal details regarding the life of W.A. Fleischer, it is for the purpose of giving overdue credit for his role in the creation of No. 844 that the following information is provided.
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