Erasing Nebraska Train Steam Engines

Nebraska Song of Challenger Matters

Cruising or perhaps surfing the internet, I stumbled on to a site often referred as NetNebraska.org which goes to Nebraska Public Media and eventually I ended up at the store (https://marketplace.unl.edu/nebraskapublicmedia/) selling discount DVDs about Nebraska for 99 cents. Hey, it is a fire sale for historians! So I bought ten DVDs for a mere $10! Yow!

When I received the box DVDs, all but one of the DVDs was in a proper case, except for this one: Hear That Train a Comin

A lump formed in my stomach. Do people no longer care? Even at 99 cents? Many in Omaha are aware of the steam engines at Kenefick Park (https://www.lauritzengardens.org/about/kenefick_park/). Big Boy made a showing in Omaha (https://durhammuseum.org/big-boy-visit/). But this big engine Challenger mentioned in the DVD seemed to be lost.

To my relief, I found Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (https://rrhma.com/support-rrhma/) is working to restore the Challenger Engine, 3985. But most merely think of the space shuttle of the same name (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger). I pondered as why such mammoth of an engine can so easily fall into disrepair and go largely unnoticed by the public at large.

What intrigued me about the DVD was a song apparently composed by Travis Turpin and Jana McQuire. I am not certain of their relationship but Travis has his own story (https://www.travisturpin.com/copy-of-my-story).

Anyways, the musical rift about Nebraska-bound Challenger caught my ears. I presumed there would be a site for the lyrics or some video or audio of the full song on the internet. There is none I could find. My heart broke. Are we letting our history erode so easily? Can we not recover it and expand upon it?

I sent a message to Travis Turpin through his website. I have no idea if he will answer. But somehow, this song should be recovered, not lost on a discounted DVD. I wonder if I should contact local historical societies, Union Pacific, Lauritzen Gardens, Railroading Heritage of Midwest America, or others to find out some way to recover the song or expand on it. Nebraska needs songs and needs remembrance of the history within. How can we so easily let such history slip through our fingers and let it be turned to dust?