Meeting the Challenge(er)

Union Pacific had their Challenger, number 3985 in the St. Louis area all week. On Friday, she was on display all day in the Mill Creek Valley, the "railroad gulch" that lies just south of downtown. Since I was over at nearby Saint Louis University all day for a continuing legal education program, I decided to stop by in the afternoon. Lots of people came out to see 3985. I last saw her in 1992 when she came to Louisville on her way to Clinchfield territory to pull the 50th anniversary of Clinchfield's "Santa Claus Express." As always the UP steam employees were informative and helpful. I even got a chance to say hello to Steve Lee, the boss of the program. Steve, like me is a native Kentuckian. My neighbor growing up was a childhood friend of his. It's a small world indeed.

While we were waiting to view the cab, a trio of Alton & Southern Locomotives passed by.

Stay tuned, in two weeks, I'll get a rare chance to ride along with the Saturday morning crew of the Manufacturer's Railway Company in St. Louis. The MRS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser Busch, and does a lot of local switching for the brewery and other industries in my neighborhood.