"I hear the train a comin' it's rolling round the bend....."

And here it comes! The Union Pacific steam locomotive #844. It was the last steam engine built for the UP in operation. It is traveling from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Marion, Arkansas where it will then eventually end up in southwestern Tennessee for the re-enactment of the Battle of Shiloh. It is the 150th anniversary Civil War troop train and has nearly 300 Civil War historians on it to participate in the re-enactment. It started from Cheyenne on the 22nd of March and will be in Marion on the 28th due to several stops along the way. What a great thing to witness!

We were standing in a field by Union, NE watching the train approach. While it did not stop here, we knew it would in Nebraska City so that was our next stop!

How exciting to see this approach! I can imagine what our ancestors thought and felt each time the train came across the prairie to their little town!

Those wheels went roaring by. Each one was more than 6 feet tall!

A quick picture as it roars by as we stand in the field watching it. Then back to the car and on to Nebraska City to see it stopped and get an up close view!

The crowd gathers in Nebraska City to see this magnificent train!

Between the loud ear-splitting whistles and the full steam, it was quite a sound and sight explosion!

Stopped for maintenance in Nebraska City.

The engineer about to shake the hand of a blind person who was allowed to feel the length of the train. They stopped him before he got to the front of the steam engine because it was HOT!

Nice patriotic car!

The train cars glistened like they had just been through a car wash, or rather train wash!

The passenger cars, wave to them!

The most impressive car, the Shiloh carrying the 8 civil war cannons.

And now of course, the Johnny Cash song, "Folsom Prison Blues", will be staying in my mind for some time now, "I hear the train a comin' it's rolling round the bend.....".