A few weeks ago I traveled with good friends Ad, Michael, and Thomas to rejoin the Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy Tour. Our focus was Wyoming/Utah/Nevada - we picked up the trail in Green River WY and parted ways in downtown Las Vegas. In the linked gallery are my images from the adventure; not only of the train but other scenes which grabbed my attention along the way. Like the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls, photographs cannot harness the spectacle and grandeur of it all. It is the world’s largest steam locomotive, yet has such grace. And mystique. Plus the scenery is beyond belief.

My fascination with the former telegraph code lines obviously continues, a major element in a few of the compositions. I key in on them as much as possible; like the rest of the vintage railroad landscape they are disappearing.

A passage of the observations from our post-trip report:

“I hadn’t planned on going out west to see the Big Boy, but after my wife drove to Wisconsin to see it while I was visiting my brother in New York, I wavered. When Thomas and Matthew invited me to come along for the next leg of the Big Boy tour, I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

Now that I’m back, I’ve been thinking about the Big Boy trip and how it changed my expectations as we went along. I started out with the feeling that with the extra water tenders and the diesel in the consist, it just wouldn't be the real deal. As I saw how amazing the locomotive was and how the crowds of regular people turned out to see it, my perspective changed 180 degrees.

From the families that came down the dirt road to watch the train at Mona to the Peruvian sheep herder on the Altamont grade to the 84 year old back country Jeep explorer and the crowd at Las Vegas, it just goes to show how wide the appeal is of that locomotive.” - Michael

Over time the entire Big Boy experience has set in for me also. I was originally not crazy about going to see it, but now two trips in I am wanting and needing more. Way beyond the photos captured, it’s the entire ball of wax from just being there. Union Pacific has hit a major homerun in the community public relations department – I hope they realize that.

https://www.losttracksoftime.com/p47324941

Enjoy,
Matthew

I too went to see the Big Boy in Tucson, Az, chasing it as far as Lordsburg, NM. I was impressed by the number of people that showed up in Tucson to see it on display (reportedly 15,000) and the number trackside. Of course, I new that it was not truly going to be a remnant of the past. This is a new era, operating in unfamiliar territory, with passenger equipment, diesel helpers, and burning oil. But I'm still glad that I saw it, and it did a lot for generating interest in RR preservation.

Ironically, I was passing through Las Vegas, siting at a fast food restaurant October 12th, just days after the Big Boy came through. The neighboring table had too elderly gentlemen, one of them telling how someone had enticed him to go see the Big Boy with him when it came through and chase it to Kelso, so now he was telling the story about how it was unbelievable just how many people had shown up to a remote spot in the middle of the desert to watch it run by. At the same time I was overhearing this story, I was watching a live stream of it going up Cajon Pass.

Eric

I didn't see it in Tucson, as I was working. Sandy came down to chase it from Tucson to Willcox and it spent a couple of days here. Reports from the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum volunteers were that on Thursday, the train stayed longer than planned at the passenger station-UP got Amtrak to open the platform gates and let folks get up close to the locomotive. Friday, the train was on display at the Tucson Yard but the general public was not allowed up close to the locomotive (Sandy, correct me if I'm wrong on this).