For Trains editors, the story of 2019 is — and has to be — the return of a Big Boy.
Yes, we mean Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 — a speedy 700-tons of steel and steam when fully fueled and ready to go.
Despite being out of service since the time Dwight Eisenhower was President, UP put Big Boy in the hands of Ed Dickens and made mechanical magic happen. In this process, the railroad made a lot of grown men’s boyhood dreams come to life. More important, the railroad won over a new fan base of people who might not have considered that a Transcontinental Railroad anniversary meant anything to them — let alone a regular, old freight train rumbling through or near their homes.
Instead of waxing on about superlatives or the historic nature of the locomotive’s operations, we’re just going to post a video above our text. Please enjoy, with our compliments.
Happy New Year from Trains!
