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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Motormike on July 19, 2026, 06:26:25 PM
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Rode up to Springfield Illinois to see the Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotive. The largest operational steam locomotive this country ever produced. To say it was impressive is an understatement. The thing is a monster. Within a 100 feet, the steam whistle alone is deafening. I think half of Springfield was out to see it. A few pics:
(https://i.ibb.co/CpvwHJTX/Big-Boy-4014.jpg) (https://ibb.co/CpvwHJTX)
(https://i.ibb.co/4nT8hbv4/Big-Boy-steam-locomotive.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4nT8hbv4)
(https://i.ibb.co/LWD1dJ4/Big-Boy.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LWD1dJ4)
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I chased BigBoy a few years ago from Oklahoma to Texas.
I also chased 4018 when they moved it in Dallas to Frisco, Towing it at 10 mph.
I can't wait for them to sell seats to ride. I rode behind the Challenger years ago.
Love steam.
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Rode up to Springfield Illinois to see the Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotive. The largest operational steam locomotive this country ever produced.....
I'd like to see it. I take it even larger steam locomotives were produced in other countries?
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I saw it last month when it came through New York. I have seen four others in museums and parks across the country. It was a pretty cool event. Hats off to Union Pacific for restoring this one putting together these cross country excursions. There has be a half gazillion youtube videos of this engine out there now.
Pete
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I couldn't get away to see it live, so watched it on the Virtual Railfan YouTube channel. Saw it at Horseshoe Curve, Cresson and Johnstown.
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It'll be here today at 10:30 in Pacific, Missouri - and then 2:30 in Hermann, MO. Six miles to Pacific and 35 miles to Hermann, so I'll get to view it twice.
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Knox, Indiana whistle stop:
(https://static.imgzeit.com/reduced/b3cccd41260f9cbf/20260716_125904.jpg)
(https://static.imgzeit.com/reduced/c99d47c3cd859c93/20260716_125155.jpg)
(https://static.imgzeit.com/reduced/1d204c0696c4e560/20260716_122611.jpg)
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I'd like to see it. I take it even larger steam locomotives were produced in other countries?
So many different ways to say "bigger." Total weight? Horsepower? Length and size? Most sites say the "Big Boy" was the largest ever. But some European train enthusiasts differ. Will the Big Boy still be around for the nations 300th Birthday? Who knows, but I wouldn't bet against it. One thing is certain, I won't be! :angel: So I'm glad I got to see it when I had the chance.
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Talking about the largest steam locomotive is not unlike talking about the fastest muscle car or motorcycle from ‘60s.
Actually two steam engines made in the US that had more horsepower and tractive effort than the Big Boy ran on the Chesapeake & Ohio (H-8 Allegheny) and the Norfolk & Western (Y6B). Probably not as fast as the Big Boy.
By far the one with the largest tractive effort were the Beyer Garatts that ran in South Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garratt_locomotive
Pete
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We saw it live during it's first tour. It was running through rural KS east of Salina. Maybe 20 people at most where we were. Yes, impressive.
GliderJohn
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I have a phone clip at a rural crossing in Illinois of it on the move. It's REALLY impressive when it rolls by at 45-50 mph blowing that steam whistle :shocked: It makes you take a few steps back, that's for sure.
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It’s an impressive hunk of iron to see go down the rails at speed. Seen it a number of times on the original section of track it was built for (Ogden to Evanston via Weber Canyon). I saw it from my driveway a mile away about 2 months ago as it was making its way to the east coast. Heard the whistle loud and clear as it was starting to chug up the canyon.
Somewhere around here I have a pic of it passing the 1,000 mile tree (planted at the 1,000 mile mark from where the Transcontinental RR started) at Council Bluffs.
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Here is a frame grab of a video I took at a friend’s house. Another guy wearing a Guzzi shirt was there too.
(https://i.ibb.co/fVC6Df8x/IMG-1394.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fVC6Df8x)
Pete
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Rode out to Greeley, Colorado today to see it. Would have been a hassle of traffic by car, but on the bike we have legal lane filtering in CO and parking is much easier to find!
(https://i.ibb.co/7xNHHFGM/up4014.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7xNHHFGM)
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Any chance you might be in this photo. I found it on google earth of all places after first clicking street view then clicking on the icon for the Colorado Model Train Museum located next to the tracks. Didn’t know this could be done. If you do it yourself you actually get a 3D 360 degree sky view from the camera drone.
(https://i.ibb.co/GvPX8pZj/IMG-1460.png) (https://ibb.co/GvPX8pZj)
Pete
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Very cool! I suspect that photo or drone shot is from a prior year, as there were many more railcars behind 4014 when it left Greeley yesterday, and a much larger crowd.
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i think its very cool that Union Pacific is keeping history alive. However i would rather they invest in transcontinental high speed rail systems. I'm sick of the airline treatments....
get naked, get poked, get prodded, sit in this seat designed for a toddler...
I would trade some speed for a real seat and the ability to walk to the dining car or observation car...
Sorry, Boomer on the rant.....
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i think its very cool that Union Pacific is keeping history alive. However i would rather they invest in transcontinental high speed rail systems. I'm sick of the airline treatments....
get naked, get poked, get prodded, sit in this seat designed for a toddler...
I would trade some speed for a real seat and the ability to walk to the dining car or observation car...
Sorry, Boomer on the rant.....
All the existing Railroads in the US combined could never afford that. You can’t run high speed on existing rail. Grade crossings are out. It requires dedicated rail and huge investment in infrastructure. They tried it in California. How far have they gotten?
Pete
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re high speed rail - Yes, I suspect everybody hates flying nowadays but we just rode the Eurostar 1st class (!!) to Amsterdam from London and back a few days later. My advice: FLY! The security process is the same and TERRIBLE food and some (not all) snarky attendants plus messed up seating reservations - we were in our seats when other passengers showed up with tickets booked showing the same seats. Got sorted out but left a bad taste. My wife and I both agreed, never again... Contrary to airlines, if you want to go by rail from London to Paris/Brussels/Rotterdam/Amsterdam, etc you have only ONE choice so they don't have to "win your loyalty."
Re the Big Boy - Nice Pics. I would love to see it but until then at least I have a Lionel O gauge Big Boy on my home railroad!!!
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That's too bad about the Eurostar. Especially paying for First Class passage. When I was in London in June, I rode one of the local train services provided by Great Western Railway from the outlying city into central London (Waterloo station) and found the service to be smooth, clean and comfortable. Of course, it was only about a one-hour train ride. By comparison, once in London the "tube" was pretty miserable. Crowded and no a/c in a heat wave. Ugh!
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I am not a fan of the dehumanizing security at airports either, and tend to avoid flying for that reason despite the fact that I otherwise enjoy flying. I take an overnight Amtrak trip about every other year. My best long distance rail experiences have been on Shinkansen (bullet trains) in Japan. No invasive security at either though both have police & security on site as high traffic areas. I would like to see more light rail in the USA more than I'd like to see high speed rail, but I still dream of having both! I'm most excited about the Colorado Connector project out by me, with the managed expectations that it will be long delayed and over budget as infrastructure of such scale tends to be in the USA.
Amtrak USA
(https://i.ibb.co/fGK4Q4L5/amtrak1-station.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fGK4Q4L5)
(https://i.ibb.co/HpVq4vYk/amtrak2-trains.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HpVq4vYk)
(https://i.ibb.co/7dYy3STf/amtrak3-seat.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7dYy3STf)
(https://i.ibb.co/S4TtvF5b/amtrak4-view.jpg) (https://ibb.co/S4TtvF5b)
JR Japan
(https://i.ibb.co/KxzjHWLC/jr1-station.jpg) (https://ibb.co/KxzjHWLC)
(https://i.ibb.co/8LYbX1NF/jr2-trains.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8LYbX1NF)
(https://i.ibb.co/VWHyM166/jr3-trains.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VWHyM166)
(https://i.ibb.co/1Jdt7Lcm/jr4-seat.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1Jdt7Lcm)
(https://i.ibb.co/Gfx82m8Z/jr5-seat.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Gfx82m8Z)
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Re the Eurostar - after we got back yesterday eve I decided to do some research and discovered that Eurostar has the lowest customer satisfaction rating of ALL the trains in Europe/UK. Maybe I should have checked that BEFORE we decided to use it instead of flying! ;)
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Yep, saw it 6/8/26 when it steamed through Northeast Ohio!
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Video on resurrecting 4014 . https://youtu.be/xjLTCck5i6o?si=OZ0nBYbDNfKQi8cQ
Some good pics and video’s
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Yeah, this one too with Jay Leno if you've got an hour to kill.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YMAqqCYe00
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Saw Big Boy when it went through my neck of the woods. I used to have an after retirement job transporting train crews, so I know a lot of the sidings etc. An easy one to reach was Virgilia so I rode my bike down to that one so I could be up close and personal without a bunch of other people. It was a good location except for a couple of things. It is a pretty straight stretch of track so it blew by at a pretty high rate of speed so I wasn't able to get a good picture. The other thing was I forgot which track was the main and the other the siding so I was standing pretty close to the main thinking it was the siding. Since this location is also an intersection with a road the warning whistle about blew my ears out. Very loud.
kk
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the warning whistle about blew my ears out. Very loud.
kk
You're not kidding! When I saw the Big Boy pull into the station at Springfield, Il, I was unprepared for how earsplitting the steam whistle was. :shocked: Later that day, I rode south to a more rural crossing and waited for the Big Boy to pass at speed. I left my earplugs in for that one!