Big Boy 4014 - Historic Steam Locomotive Reborn

[McFly]

This past Monday, I drove over to Marshall, TX to see the historic Big Boy No. 4014, one of the last great steam locomotives built for the Union Pacific Railroad. What an incredible piece of history, not to mention an engineering marvel, particularly for the times it was designed & manufactured. The Big Boy No. 4014 was restored at the UP rail yard in Cheyenne, WY & put back into service this past May. Check that link above for some Big Boy fun facts.

The Big Boy is on a rail tour of the western half of UP railroads to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad & had stopped for an overnight in Marshall & was on display for the day. The UP also had passenger cars as part of their rolling exhibit, Experience The Union Pacific. I wish I had time to check that out while I was there but unfortunately I couldn't squeeze that in. Still though, it was quite an experience. My other regret is that I didn't get to see Big Boy rolling down the track, but there are quite a few videos on YT to give you an idea what a magnificent piece of history & engineering Big Boy is... impressive.










Me & the UP Conductor

Big Boy Walk By

Big Boy Whistle Blow

Big Boy Departs The Train Yard

[Pete_Tallahassee]

That's a big train. Lee chased it across the countryside a few months back.

[McFly]

That would be so cool to have seen it rolling by! When you're standing next to it, it's massive. There were nuts binding things together that were as big as a car tire. Some of the parts required to restore Big Boy, had to be fabricated from scratch. The conductor I had my picture taken with had some interesting things to say about his experience with the UP & Big Boy specifically. He had a good laugh when I asked him what he thought about his sudden notoriety & being in such high demand for pictures with people on the anniversary trip.

[Paughco]

WOW! Very cool! Thank you for posting. My all-time favorite steam loco is the Southern Pacific cab-forward, but I like the UP Big Boy also. A long time ago, when I was seven years old, I was living in Checotah, OK. This was back in 1953. I had to wait for the second school bus run, so I'd hang out on the swings, which were a front-row seat to the nearby railroad tracks. A train would go by about every five minutes, and they were powered by steam engines, mostly, with the occasional diesels - mostly EMD F-units. I didn't know enough to take notes or pictures; hey, I was just a kid. But I knew, somehow, that I was seeing something that I should remember. It was really cool!

Seeya
ATB

[Lee]

My other regret is that I didn't get to see Big Boy rolling down the track,

It's a blast to get close to see and hear it running down the track.
The first day me and another guy in a car followed along with it. Sometimes we would drive right next to it. Other times we would run ahead and stand next to the tracks as it passed by. We also stopped at 2 towns when it stopped so people could check it out.
Another day I rode the bike and waited to see it pass by.

[Lee]

That's a big train. Lee chased it across the countryside a few months back.

I added pictures but it's marked as spam.

Here's 2 pics in case my other post does not show.

[Lee]

I thought it was odd to have a modern engine helping but one of the crew told me it was a generator for the passenger cars.

[Lee]

This is the fuel car.
The long clear plastic tube on the back is the high tech fuel gauge
I noticed the fuel was clear and asked one of the crew what they use and he said it was a reprocessed engine oil.
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