World’s largest steam locomotive trekking across Iowa,

[Clone83]

. . . Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and back through Iowa the next couple of weeks. It is the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad.

Big Boy was built in 1941 and was just recently restored. It is the only one still operational. A few years ago Union Pacific purchased it from a museum in California to restore.

From the Omaha World-Herald:


Today’s Des Moines Register has tentatively scheduled Iowa stops and the route across these states
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...-transcontinental-railroads-150th/1714087001/



Flooding in south central Nebraska just recently caused a delay.

You can see pictures in an editorial and article in today’s Omaha World-Herald, along with more detail
https://www.omaha.com/opinion/edito...cle_304c52f4-d3da-540f-9825-607d3c665375.html

. . . Big Boy No. 4014 is impressive in many ways. It’s a massive creation weighing 1.2 million pounds and, if stood on its end, would be the equivalent of a 13-story building. U.P. bought the engine in 1941 and eventually had 25 such titanic freight haulers. The engines — so great in length that they needed to be hinged to accommodate curves — proved invaluable during World War II in moving massive amounts of materials for the war effort.

These old-time steam engines were remarkable in their complexity, requiring expert operation and maintenance. William L. Withuhn, the longtime curator of transportation for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, once observed:

“A steam locomotive is like a rolling lit bomb. You have 200 pounds per square inch of pressure in the boiler, and if it goes up, the explosion can send the locomotive 300 yards down the track. You have this huge momentum — 1,000 tons behind you. You have to be ahead of it at all times. You need to know all the changes in grade and the curves and rail crossings. … Running a crack train at 90 miles an hour meant you had to think three miles ahead. These were people who never finished grade school, some of them, and they had many of the same skills and responsibilities as the captain of a 747 jet.”

The diesel era in the 1950s spelled the end of regular steam engine use, and U.P. retired Big Boy in 1961. . . .

https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/un...cle_266839e6-5487-5d93-9d7c-1ad8f4b35c5c.html

 

[wesley_w]

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

 

[burn587]

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

I wouldn’t try it, the high bridge has cameras on it and you would be called in for trespassing very quickly.

 

[Clone83]

I wish I could see it.

You can see how compressed the photo above is from the pinned photo in the Twitter stream. The front looks so different, more from the side, I thought it was the other locomotive covered there, until I saw the 4014.

https://twitter.com/UP_Steam

 

[awd4cy]

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

Unfortunately no. Pretty much the only place is the gravel road that goes under the bridge on the west side. The east is pretty well secluded.

 

[justincl]

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

Check out Key Lane just west of Boone. It is a gravel road and may give you a good view if you can figure out the schedule.

 

[cyclones500]

That'd be cool to see. Wish I lived near the route.

 

[acoustimac]

I was getting ready to post the schedule for this to see if anyone was interested. I will be following it coming into Boone on Monday and through Ames and Nevada on Tuesday. I have a few spots picked out to photograph it. The big trick is that it is so big, to get a photo without people in the foreground will be tough because it gets a lot of attention. If anyone knows, is there a way to get to the east end of the high bridge west of Boone??

There are a couple of overpass bridges in West Ames. I use to sit on one of those and let the trains go under me. Their exhaust would literally blow my legs up in the air.

 

[Sigmapolis]

@wesley_w

There are a couple of spots and overpass bridges I can recommend in Boone County.

There is this one between the river and Ogden...



There is both the "Humpback Bridge" and the little gravel parking lot and road just to the southeast of it -- should be a good place to setup to watch it there.

The E-W road at the bottom of the picture above is just Old Highway 30. You just turn north at the historical church and go a few counts north to find the bridge.

Additionally, there is an overpass bridge on L Ave. just west of Boone here...



...which should have a good overhead view, but others might have the same idea.

You can also get right up against the tracks here...



...on "Mink Lane." It is just west of the Shale Pile on the north side of the tracks. You take W 12th St. west towards the turn to go north to the waterworks and eventually Don Williams, but instead keep straight and take the first left and head down to the bend next to the tracks.

 

[Clone83]

Some YouTube videos




YouTube comments talk about previous attempts to get a good shot. Here a freight train coming from the west prevented a good shot of the steam locomotive coming from the east.

UP 844 in Ames in 2012


Photos of trains crossing the old Kate Shelley High Bridge




Those who are not aficionados, or wesley_w, should know there is a lot of train footage on YouTube.

 

[wesley_w]

Thanks for all the tips, I think Ogden is what I will try for this afternoon. There is enough area there that I hope to keep away from most of the people. I don't want to be overhead but instead at or below track level. The old "things look more heroic from below" idea.

 

[wxman1]

Planning to take my son in a couple of weeks when it comes through CR.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Thanks for all the tips, I think Ogden is what I will try for this afternoon. There is enough area there that I hope to keep away from most of the people. I don't want to be overhead but instead at or below track level. The old "things look more heroic from below" idea.

Post what you come up with here!

 

[Clone83]

Note for everyone: I should have put “trekking through Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and back through Iowa” at the top.

It should be in Minnesota in the near future.

[I just edited the OP to make that consistent and clear.]

The Twitter stream linked in the Register, and in one of my posts above, and below, shows the daily progress:


One response to the above Tweet says it just went through Missouri Valley.

Here is the link again to the main Twitter stream:
https://twitter.com/UP_Steam

 

[Tri4Cy]

. . . Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and back through Iowa the next couple of weeks. It is the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad.

Big Boy was built in 1941 and was just recently restored. It is the only one still operational. A few years ago Union Pacific purchased it from a museum in California to restore.

From the Omaha World-Herald:
View attachment 65147

Today’s Des Moines Register has tentatively scheduled Iowa stops and the route across these states
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...-transcontinental-railroads-150th/1714087001/

View attachment 65148

Flooding in south central Nebraska just recently caused a delay.

You can see pictures in an editorial and article in today’s Omaha World-Herald, along with more detail
https://www.omaha.com/opinion/edito...cle_304c52f4-d3da-540f-9825-607d3c665375.html



https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/un...cle_266839e6-5487-5d93-9d7c-1ad8f4b35c5c.html

The scale looks correct, but the states are definitely "off". Altoona is clearly in Iowa and I find it funny they reference Iowa City as West Chicago!

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I'll have to see if I can get myself somewhere to photograph it in between Omaha and Fremont on the return trip.

 

[dtISU]

Looks like they're going to park the train here in Boone overnight tonight.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Note for everyone: I should have put “trekking through Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and back through Iowa” at the top.

It should be in Minnesota in the near future.

[I just edited the OP to make that consistent and clear.]

The Twitter stream linked in the Register, and in one of my posts above, and below, shows the daily progress:


One response to the above Tweet says it just went through Missouri Valley.

Here is the link again to the main Twitter stream:
https://twitter.com/UP_Steam

You ain't playin' railroad right unless you call it Mo' Valley.

 

[VeloClone]

Minnesota Cfers - it is scheduled to make stops in Albert Lea, Owatonna and Northfield on Wednesday before arriving in St. Paul. Then it is supposed to be on display Thursday in St. Paul at Union Depot.

The little guy was just talking to me about the Transcontinental Railroad and the golden spike yesterday. He will be excited to go see this locomotive that is touring in honor of the 150th anniversary of the TR's completion. I've already told my boss I'm taking Thursday off.

 

[Clone83]

You ain't playin' railroad right unless you call it Mo' Valley.

Thanks. I didn't know that. That sounds better than Missourah Valley.