Union Pacific is celebrating its 150th Anniversary in a fun way. The legendary steam locomotive No. 844 is traveling from El Reno, Oklahoma to Council Bluffs, Iowa to share the company’s history with the communities it serves.

On Sunday, the old engine huffed from El Reno to Wichita, Kansas. Monday’s itinerary takes the train to Topeka, and on Tuesday it will roll from there to Concil Bluffs.

The third leg from Kansas City to Omaha roughly follows the Missouri River on the Nebraska side, so the train will not be passing through St Joseph or Northwest Missouri.

A Global Positioning Satellite transmitter was installed on one of the railcars that travel with No. 844. The GPS system has been integrated with a map on UP’s Web site at www.up.com. Enter “Steam” in the search box on the homepage for a shortcut to the map. The route maps are updated every five minutes.

No. 844 is the last steam engine built for Union Pacific still in operation. According to the company, it was delivered in 1944. A high-speed passenger engine, it pulled such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.

Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra ‘4’ was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired.