Union Pacific FEF series

Common card · No. 372763

The Union Pacific FEF series consists of forty-five 4-8-4 "Northern" steam locomotives built in three classes for the Union Pacific Railroad by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between 1937 and 1944. The FEF acronym comes from the first letters of the wheel arrangement, Four Eight Four. They were in operation until overtaken by dieselization, with all but one retired by 1959. The final steam locomotives built for the Union Pacific, the FEFs represented the apex of dual-service steam locomotive development in the United States, as funds and research were thereafter concentrated into the development of diesel-electric locomotives. Designed to burn coal, they were converted to run on fuel oil in 1946. FEFs pulled a variety of passenger trains, such as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger, until diesel-electric locomotives took over passenger service. Many FEF series locomotives were reassigned to freight service during the last years of their careers...

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