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October 21, 2026
Union Pacific Living Legend No. 844 is returning to the rails The legendary steam locomotive will join Big Boy No. 4014 for UP’s holiday tour in November. The tour will mark the first public appearance for No. 844 since it traveled with No. 4014 in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike in Utah.
The steam locomotives will run as a “double header” during a fundraising excursion from Greeley to Denver, CO, on Nov. 21 for Make-A-Wish. UP will make a donation from its Community Ties Giving Program.
Later that day at Denver’s Union Station, the locomotives will be on public display. Admission is free.
While Big Boy No. 4014 recently captivated millions during a coast-to-coast journey commemorating America’s 250th anniversary, No. 844’s return marks the long-awaited comeback of the railroad’s famed high-speed passenger locomotive.
A 4-8-4 Northern built in 1944, No. 844 hauled some of UP’s most recognizable passenger trains, including Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger. Northerns were capable of exceeding 100 miles per hour and equipped with distinctive smoke deflectors, sometimes called “elephant ears,” on the front of the boiler. These were designed to help lift the smoke above the engine, so the engine crew’s visibility wasn’t impaired when the train was drifting at light throttle.
UP operated 45 Northerns, built in three classes, which were delivered between 1937 and 1944.
No. 844 is the last steam locomotive in the fleet built in 1944 and the only Class I North American steam locomotive never permanently retired. When diesel locomotives assumed passenger service duties, No. 844 was reassigned to freight work in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. Unlike nearly every other steam locomotive of its era, No. 844 escaped scrapping in 1960, and UP retained it for special service.
In 2022, UP donated a small portion of its heritage fleet – including Challenger No. 3985 – to the non-profit Railroading Heritage of Midwest America. The donation reduced the heritage fleet so that focus could be placed on the remaining locomotives, including the Big Boy and No. 844.
The 454-ton No. 844 and its tender have run hundreds of thousands of miles as UP’s ambassador of goodwill. No. 844 last ran in 2019 behind the Big Boy to Ogden, UT, for the Golden Spike celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Two years earlier, the Living Legend completed a successful boiler inspection in Tennessee so that it could run with No. 4014.
In 2012, the Living Legend completed UP’s 150 Express tour, a 13,000-mile trek through 13 states in celebration of the railroad’s 150th anniversary.
No. 844 has made appearances at Expo ’74 in Spokane, the 1981 opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Los Angeles Union Station in 1989.
During the 1990s, No. 844 pulled numerous Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days special trains and visited several Oklahoma cities during the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007. In 2010, No. 844 traveled to Harlingen, TX, and Milliken, CO, to be a part of heritage celebrations in those communities.
