A Utah Front Runner commuter train soars across a flyover in Ogden as No. 4014's train walks out to the main line.
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. – Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 returned to home turf on Tuesday on its journey between southern California and the shop in Cheyenne, Wyo., that will prepare the 1941 4-8-8-4 for its second career as a steam-powered spokesman for the railroad. The engine looked right at home on steep, twisting grade between Ogden and Wahsatch, Utah, a roughly 60-mile climb for which the Big Boy class was designed to conquer. Here are my notes from Tuesday’s chase and my thoughts about Wednesday’s route.
Note the homemade oiler made on the road and applied to No. 4014's lead guide wheel.
Those of us patient enough to wait on the UP steam crew to walk the 450-ton locomotive out of the Ogden Union Station museum and onto the UP mainline got a real treat when a colorful Front Runner commuter train soared across a flyover high above the steam locomotive. Some said it was planned, but surely it was just good look. Right?
We got a good look Tuesday at the flange lubricator that the UP steam crew created during the trip to oil the front left pony truck wheel that seems to be riding hard. There’s no good way of telling what is causing this just yet, but the flange lubricator seems to be doing its job.
No. 4014 took on an unusual appearance of being in the right setting for once, mimicking a thousand photos I’ve seen taken of Big Boys on this line. Even with diesels fore and aft, it is easy to picture the locomotive on this route, especially near Castle Rock, Utah, where a convenient overlook right off I-80 provides an excellent vantage point. If there were just sound and exhaust … I know… wait five years and come back. That I will do.
A large crowd turned out at Evanston, Wyo. to greet No. 4014 while it stopped so the crew could shoot the rods.
UP’s original transcontinental route is amazing for its engineering, high volume of traffic, and for small touches, such as the 1,000-mile tree near Croydon, Utah, which was the location reached after 1,000 miles of construction on the line when it was first built in the 1860s. It’s easily missed while you watch for trains along adjacent I-80, and unfortunately it’s inaccessible by car.
The summit of the grade out of Ogden going east at Wahsatch, Utah, is certainly mischievous. Eastbound trains out of Ogden leave town running leftside and cross over the westbound main between Castle Rock and Wahsatch inside tunnels. Thus, at the summit, eastbounds show up in a ditch that bypasses an early abandoned tunnel.
The town of Evanston, Wyo., has a true gem in its lovingly restored 1900 brick depot. The town also has a roundhouse, but I didn’t get to visit that. I’ll be back.
Entering Granger, Wyo., yesterday, several of us spotted and reported to grateful UP employees a dragging chain on the last TTX flat that is tagging along for additional braking power. We all want to help keep our railroads safe, and one way we can as train watchers prove our worth is to keep our eyes open and let our friends at the railroad know when something is amiss.
No. 4014 and its diesel escorts work eastbound up the Wasatch grade near Castle Rock, Utah.
Crowds along the route have been huge, and when the locomotive entered the yard and shop town at Green River, there was a pedestrian bridge packed with observers.
Today is another full day of watching Big Boy No. 4014 roll along in territory that was familiar to Big Boys in the day. I’m not as familiar with this section, but it will be a treat just to get to see the railroad.
At the summit of the grade for which it was designed, No. 4014 rolls past an abandoned tunnel, a victim of a line relocation.
Don’t forget: We’ll have more live web streaming of Big Boy No. 4014’s move today as the locomotive makes its way to Laramie, Wyo. Today is open to registered users of our website. Also remember that copies of Big Boy on the Road to Restoration are available now from Kalmbach Publishing and also from your favorite magazine dealer. Coverage of the move from Colton, Calif., to Cheyenne will appear in the July issue of Trains. We’ll produce a DVD of our best videos from the entire 4014 saga later this summer. And of course, we’ll have more reports on our blog, Train of Thought, and on the TrainsMag.com NewsWire.
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