Or, How Fog Killed A Classic Shot ___________________________________________________________  Somewhere in this 114 MB tiff file image are a precious few kilobytes of pixels showing UP #4014. UP #844 is barely visible. The wonderful rock formations towering behind the train are totally obscured. Sunday’s foggy conditions on Sherman Hill made for truly challenging – and a lot of disappointing – photography. Tripod users take note -- when under load, Big Boy can shake t...

The first sight of Leviathan was unforgettable.   There it was, on its first debut in Owasso, Michigan, a big, brand new nineteenth century locomotive, standing on the track like a magnificent horse pausing in mid stride.  It's as if a clock was turned back 140 years, and Leviathan - a full scale replica of Central Pacific passenger locomotive originally built in 1868 -  was once again new and bright.   Leviathan gleamed like a new planet.  It was a universe of...

An “office wall” photograph:  In 1976, an eastbound Southern Railway Bi-centennial Special powered by SRR #4501 climbs a grade east of Jefferson City. The photo location was one of three selected in advance by James Bistline. A few days before the trip, Southern Railway maintenance forces "just happened" to come along and cut and remove several dozen bushes and shrubs along the right-of-way at this and one other location.   Photo by Art Miller     &...

I’m going to come at this question from a different direction. Yes—the 150th Anniversary of the First Transcontinental Railroad is a significant event in American and Transportation History. And we may lament the lack of general interest and formal celebrations outside of the Union Pacific and the major railroad heritage institutions. We should support and appreciate their considerable efforts. But why do so many of us still think that someone else should be in charge, or organize ...

What would you say if I told you that there were people alive today who heard firsthand stories of the construction and operation of the Pacific Railroad ? The mid-19th century seems like the dim, distant past. It really isn’t. Technically it may be six or seven generations, but that is a statistical measure. It is the space of perhaps three lived lives, and much closer to us than we imagine. I firmly believe that there are older folks among us who listened to their elders describe what ...