Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

 

Randomly discovering hot springs is a great way to spend the dregs of a Alaskan winter, and has been my primary focus of this trip, but when I learned that the Union Pacific massive steam locomotive Big Boy 4014 was going on a coast to coast tour, I decided that I had to see the thing.

 Back in the 1940’s Union Pacific had the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) build 25 of these monsters, and of those 25 only 8 survive, and 4014 is the only one in operating condition having been rescued from  50 years of static display at the rail giants train museum in Pomona California.

The 2026 tour starts and ends at the railroads steam headquarters in Cheynne, so that is where I headed.

Where Big Boy 4014 Sleeps

The roundhouse is a impressive structure of the railyard here. You could see the passenger coaches staged for the run starting tomorrow, but 4014 was hidden away deep within the railyard where mere civilians are not permitted.

Cheyenne Depot

With the big rail adventure not starting until tomorrow I opted to travel to Curt Gowdy State Park, that is strategically  located ½ way between Cheynne and 4014’s first stop in Laramie.

Yes, the park is named after Curt Gowdy, the sportscaster. Curt was born in Green River and raised in Cheyenne. The park sits above a reservoir where you can fish and boat, but not swim.

You Know You Have Arrived

It was off season in the park, so there was no water in the campground,  but my site had electricity, and view of the lake.

Granite Spring Reservoir 

Plenty of little Uinta ground squirrels were busy ducking into holes and running across the road to see what the other squirrels were doing, you could say the park offered entertainment and I spotted a Clark’s Nutcracker to add to my bird list. I didn’t get a good photo of him though.

Uinta Ground Squirrel

The only negative thing I can think of about the park is Curt must not have liked camping on level ground, because I don’t think there is a level spot in the park, and my spot took all my blocks to get level.

In the morning, it was an easy run to Laramie, on a quiet two lane highway. The vans path of the beam brought me right to the Union Pacific depot, and I was early enough to grab a primo parking spot steps away from the depot.

There are the usual things to see at the depot, the static display of old trains, and the museum with all the railroad artifacts was open early so you could take a look.

Railroad Semaphore

High above the railyard is a bridge and pathway that connects to another part of town, but on this morning  myself along with lots of other people decided that the bridge would be a excellent place to watch 4014

It Was Determined This Freight Is On Track 3

Now up on the bridge there was plenty of speculation as to what track Big Boy would arrive on. There could have even been betting.

All along I thought that Big Boy would be on the track closest to the station, and when I asked the fellow standing near me, who was a wealth of railroad information, he agreed and stated that Big Boy would come in on “Track 1” that they would switch it to that track just to the east of us where we couldn’t see all that well.

The entire wait for Big Boy had a carnival feel to it or it might have been a screen shot from the past when the passenger trains would stop at the depot , and the entire town would turn out to see who was arriving. Either way there must have been at least 1000 humans waiting.  Children were swinging on the swings. People were lined up about 6 deep near the depot, and tikes were scaling the fence to get a good look.

Just like at a rock concert Union Pacific provided a opening act, as a massive, covered hopper freight  train pulled by a 4000 hp GE (same people that make my toaster, and washer) was switched on to track one and came at the crowd sounding its horn and ringing its bell.

Opening Act Switched On To Track 1

Now since this freight was on track 1 it was going to pass just a few feet under us, and the driver was having a fun time sounding his horn, and as the massive locomotive was directly under, he gave a blast of that horn that made everyone on the bridge jump, a bit.

The lady standing next to me said that the noise scared her dog. I told her the noise scared me.

It wasn’t long until off in the distance you could see the single headlight of 4014 moving over to track 1. As it drew closer you could hear the unmistakable sound of a steam whistle.

As it approached the depot it started blowing steam, and everyone that was on or near the platform got a steam bath.

4014 Has Arrived

After the train stopped, I shuffled off the bridge and wandered over to the six deep crowd at the depot.

At least six crew were at the locomotives wheels oiling everything that they  could reach

Oiling Up The Locomotive

I never got the photo I wanted of Big Boy but it was fun to be near a massive steam locomotive and feel the heat coming off of it and wonder what noise it was going to make next.