Looking south Hy-Lift machines are busy in Staples. One in use on the Sacred Heart Church was used for this photo. Another can be seen in use on the front of the Staples Historic Northern Pacific depot, where roof restoration work is underway. Plastic sheets cover the roof to keep out most of the moisture. Note the Fourth Street awnings on the store fronts. A year from now, those awnings are likely to be gone, casualties of the 2010 turnback project, which will include the south two blocks of Fourth Street. (Photos for the Staples World by Adam Becker)

Railroad buffs and history nuts alike should get a charge out of a visit - however brief - by a restored steam locomotive and a train of vintage rail cars expected to pass through Staples Thursday morning.

 

The tour from Portland to Minneapolis is powered by the historic Southern Pacific Daylight No. 4449.

The restored steam locomotive and train of vintage rail cars departed from Portland on July 3 and is running on BNSF Railway tracks to Minneapolis.

The public should be able to view the train as it passes through and perhaps get a good look if it pauses in Staples for a short stop. After Minneapolis, it is heading east for Train Festival 2009 in Owosso, Mich., from July 23 through 26.

Me and my shadow While snapping a few "aerial" photos of Staples Tuesday, the pair in their basket perch working on the Sacred Heart Church steeple caught their own shadow cast across Fourth Street and onto the roof of Brenny's Funeral Home to the west.

The return trip to Portland will be in mid-October

 

The train has a Global Positioning System linked to the Train Festival Web site to allow train chasers and fans to track it in real time and see it at various crossings and vistas. For more information, check out the festival Web site at trainfestival2009.com.

Other steam excursions over the years have drawn crowds to the Staples depot to see the old steamers.

This train trip ticket is not cheap. A single ticket for the eight-day excursion from Portland to Minneapolis is $4,999. Single-day tickets are $379. The high cost comes from the intricate arrangements among Amtrak, BNSF, private rail groups and the preservation association that operates the 4449.

Constructed in 1941 in Lima, Ohio, by the Lima Locomotive Works, the GS-4 locomotive served on the Southern Pacific during its working years and then pulled the American Freedom Train for the national bicentennial in 1975 and 1976. It is operated by longtime engineer Doyle McCormack out of Portland.