I am a 71 year old steam fan, living in SO, California. I was raised near the Cheyenne Shops, as my father was a farmer near Windsor and later the Sugar Beet Reloading Manager for the Great Western Sugar Co. As a young boy, we would go to Greeley, picnic basket in hand, usually in the evenings and watch the steam powered trains stop at the water plug near the Greeley Depot. This was during the early 1950's. Later, my brother Fred, myself and my girlfriend Elizabeth made a trip to Cheyenne to see the engines there. We watched from an overpass as a Big Boy brought in a turbine on the point of a long freight train. The turbine had flamed out and the Big Boy was sent out to bring it home. It has been more than 56 years since I watched a Big Boy move and heard the incredible whistle that used to rattle the windows in downtown Greeley.

I look forward to the restoration of 4014 as a return to an era of big steam and my memories as a young lad.