Rail icon steams into Naperville, Aurora

Train enthusiasts will line the rails Saturday of several Western suburbs to catch a glimpse of the only remaining operable "streamlined" steam locomotive of the Art Deco era.

The SP4449 pulled Southern Pacific "Daylight" coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until 1955.

Locomotive No. 4449 was built in Ohio for Southern Pacific in May 1941. The oil-burning locomotive is 110 feet long, rides on 80-inch driving wheels and can reach speeds of 100 mph.

The vintage locomotive will travel east through Sugar Grove, Aurora and Naperville on its way from Minneapolis to Chicago.

The train will run along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line as part of a 5,000-mile journey from Portland, Ore., to Owosso, Mich., for Train Festival 2009.

According to updates posted on the locomotive's Web site, the train is scheduled to leave the Minneapolis rail yard at 8 a.m. Saturday and is expected to be in Chicago by 6 p.m.

It is scheduled to stop at the Amtrak station in Naperville to let off passengers sometime between 4 and 5 p.m.

Naperville resident David Streeter, 42, first saw the locomotive rumble through Chicago in 1975 when it pulled the American Freedom Train across the country.

"It used to be fairly common for these old locomotives to come through the region, but it's getting harder for an organization to do a trip mainly because of insurance costs," Streeter said. "And the railroad has to be willing to allow it."

Streeter plans to capture some still photos and videos of the train as it rolls through Aurora and Naperville.

"I don't know where I'll set up, but I don't want to go where a lot of people are," he said. "I'd like to just capture my own unique photos of her without other people in my shots."

Anyone who wants to see the train can follow its progress by GPS at www.trainfestival2009.com/gps.html or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sp4449.