Memories from the Homestead: UP 1982 makes second visit in a month

    A little over twenty years ago, the Union Pacific Railroad introduced a "Heritage" series of six locomotives, each honoring a predecessor railway, such as the Denver & Rio Grande Western, the Southern Pacific and others. In 2004, there was much speculation that UP would also honor the Missouri Pacific with a Heritage locomotive.

Missouri Pacific Heritage locomotive UP 1982 made a visit up the White River Railway, the Missouri Pacific line through Branson, Sunday night, March 29. (Photo courtesy of trainboard.com)

It was unveiled at a ceremony in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 30, 2005, officially named UP 1982. Complete with the familiar buzz saw Missouri Pacific logo and the famous blue, gray and white color scheme complete with screaming eagle graphic, this was considered one of the most tasteful renderings the UP paint shop has ever done.

 I've always had an appreciation for railroading, and I've covered a number of stories here on the significance of our own White River Railway and how it became under the ownership of the Missouri Pacific (MOPAC). This year is the 120th anniversary of the railroad here.

About a month ago, a number of railroad enthusiasts gathered just south of the Branson depot at the East Long Street crossing when UP 1982 brought a train up the line from Batesville, Arkansas, bound for Carthage, MO, and onward to its destination in Wyoming. This was the first time UP 1982 had paid us a visit since 2011. Yes, I missed the 2011 visit, and the unexpected visit a month ago. I was convinced my chances of seeing it in person were extremely low, as UP operates 7,154 locomotives in 23 states. And out of those, there are currently eight "Heritage" units. It's definitely quite rare to see one.

To our southeast, in Cotter, Arkansas, I received word through a Facebook post early Saturday, March 28, that UP 1982 was back again and would be coming our way at some point taking a train of empty coal cars. All of a sudden, photography of UP 1982 parked at Cotter showed up on three different Facebook railroad groups. I got in the conversation and told everyone that I followed the line closely on the Missouri side, and if I could be notified when it departed to head for Branson, I'd be really thrilled.

 All day Saturday, UP 1982 stayed parked. All day Sunday, too. Getting updates, finally I was notified a little after 8 p.m. Sunday evening March 29 that they were leaving Cotter. I knew it would take over two hours just to get to the Branson depot, so I headed over to find a spot where the lighting would be good enough to shoot video as it went by.

After walking around near the tracks for a bit, I discovered that along Branson Landing Boulevard, across from the Hilton driveway by the parking garage, would be the prime spot to capture UP 1982.

By around 10:30 p.m., I knew they had to be close. There are areas where the speed is restricted to 30 mph, but in recent times, they're now allowed to go up to 45 mph. They always slow down along Branson Landing Boulevard due to three street crossings and pedestrian crossings, too.  

At 10:48 p.m., the electronic horn signals sounded at East Long Street, and eventually UP 1982 rounded the curve, only crawling at 20 mph. As it approached the Branson depot it maintained speed, and the horn signals at Main Street sounded. With my phone on video mode I got great footage, with their slow speed. Once they cleared the North Commercial Street crossing, they quickly increased the speed back to 45 mph.

So now I've seen my first UP "Heritage" locomotive up close; now seven more to go hunting for! If you're one of my Facebook followers, you can see my video posted that night, March 29.

Now for you real railroad fans, here's the technical details. UP 1982 was previously UP 8379. It's a 2004 SD 70ACe unit, with a 16-cylinder 710GC3-T2 diesel/electric engine, with 4,300 horsepower, it has six axles, and is a familiar model on railroads today, with nearly 2,200 units in operation in the U.S. currently. 

A special thanks to those who kept me updated over the weekend, including the Arkansas Railfans Facebook group and Steve who let me know about UP 1982 making a visit on our line.

Happy trails, and happy railroading!