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Will the horse move? Thoughts on photographing animals with trains

Posted yesterday by Jim Wrinn

There’s a famous W.C. Fields quote about never working with animals and children. I’m not 100 percent sure of the context of that statement: Perhaps that meant he was afraid they would upstage him, or perhaps that meant they were too unpredictable. Maybe both. I tend to think the latter. We’ve all tried over the years to incorporate various animals into our railroad photography. The famous have done it: One of O. Winston Link’s most famous photos, Maude b...

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Western Maryland 1309 update: Drivers and front engine reunited

Posted 5 days ago by Jim Wrinn

Steam locomotive restorations are agonizingly slow, especially when the subject locomotive has been well used in its working life and exposed to the elements during its preservation life. Such is the case with Western Maryland Scenic’s former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309. The engine only ran from 1949 to 1956 in coal service near Logan, W.Va., but by that time the Chessie knew it was heading toward dieselization and that steam upkeep could be minimal. Years of storage at Russ...

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On the road with Big Boy No. 4014: Where to park it

Posted 14 days ago by Jim Wrinn

Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 is on the last lap of its 1,500-mile Midwestern tour. It’s on display all day in North Platte, Neb., before the last two days that will take it to Sidney, Neb., tomorrow and home to Cheyenne, Wyo., on Thursday. Due to North Platte’s importance to the UP system and its role as the world’s largest rail yard, you’d think it would be easy to find a track on which to display the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. But I wouldn&rsquo...

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What shall we worry about in railway preservation now that B&LE 643 is safe?

Posted 15 days ago by Jim Wrinn

One of the great lingering mysteries in the world of railway preservation has been solved: What will become of Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-10-4 No 643, the powerful (more than 100,000 pounds of tractive effort with the booster cut in) but perpetually stranded (earnest efforts to get the engine to preservation began in the mid-1970s and continued through 1995 when there was a serious attempt to move it to Scranton, Pa., and make it part of the Steamtown collection) Texas type that seemed destine...

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On the road with Big Boy No. 4014: Of people, public relations, and the future

Posted 21 days ago by Jim Wrinn

Big Boy No. 4014 began the last lap on its Midwestern tour Tuesday with a trip from West Chicago, Ill., to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As it has been since leaving Cheyenne on July 8, every move of the locomotive has been followed by thousands. At some display locations, the number of people who came out to see the world’s largest operating steam locomotive has been staggering: 12,000 in Duluth, Minn., 20,000 in West Chicago. And thousands more trackside at rural grade crossings, in small town...

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On the road with Big Boy 4014: Safety is in our hands

Posted 27 days ago by Jim Wrinn

I’ve noticed something about the crowds of people who are coming out to view Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 on its Midwestern tour. They are excited to see the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, which is great. Having this celebrity come to your part of the world is nothing short of a miracle. But as warm is their reception, it’s also disturbing to see their lack of appreciation for trackside safety. As the train approaches, they’re not afraid to stand close to...

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On the road with Big Boy No. 4014: Chicago ahead!

Posted 28 days ago by Jim Wrinn

Watch out Chicago! Big Boy is heading your way! Yes, Union Pacific No. 4014 is making its way across Wisconsin today, tomorrow, and Thursday. The 4-8-8-4 will cross the Cheddar Curtain into Illinois on Friday on its way to a three-day display in West Chicago at the Larry Provo training center. It’s going to be the King of Steam in America’s Railroad Capital Saturday, Sunday, and Monday! And it may be the first time a Big Boy has visited Chicago under s...

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On the road with Big Boy No. 4014: Minnesota (?!)

Posted 29 days ago by Jim Wrinn

There was an air show in Duluth, Minn., last weekend. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels stunt team was the featured attraction. Estimated attendance: 65,000. On the same weekend, there was a special event at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. Union Pacific’s Big Boy locomotive was the featured attraction at the Festival of Steam. A Big Boy in Minnesota … in Duluth … on the shore of Lake Superior. It’s about as much of a fish out of water tale as there is. D...

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The day when two icons met in Iowa: Big Boy and the electric

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

There are certain events that bring dissimilar characters together for brief but unforgettable moments. They give us iconic moments. They give us lasting memories. One of those moments for Train World took place Tuesday in Mason City, Iowa, a place known as the hometown of “Music Man” playwright Meredith Willson and for its Frank Lloyd Wright hotel. Shortly before 2 p.m., Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014, traveling on the former Rock Island Spine Line, where no Big Boy has gone befo...

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On the road with Big Boy No. 4014: When numbers just won't do

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

Railroads love to quantify everything. The obsession with the operating ratio is a perfect example. Aim for that magic number under 60 and you’ve got real gold. Steam locomotives on Class I railroads and excursions with them are harder to quantify their value to the numbers people. Yes, you can break down the cost per mile, the fuel consumption, factor of adhesion, you name it. But what you cannot quantify is the value of the emotional connection between spectators and locomotive and cre...

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On the road with No. 4014, Grand Island-Omaha

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

OMAHA, Neb. – Big Boy No. 4014 is in residency today at UP’s Homeplate display outside the baseball park where the College World Series is played. Even at this early hour for a weekend, crowds are already making their way into the display for the city’s Railroad Days festival. Late Friday we watched No. 4014 and its canteens, backup diesel and three tool cars arrive, link up with their passenger train, and take a zig-zag route across downtown to reach this location. It was the ...

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The most famous Big Boy photo you'll never see ... and one that you will right now!

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

Some days begin well and end rough. Others start out on the wrong foot and end up in a waltz. Today was one of the latter as many of us chased Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 on its eastbound trek across the Midwest. The day started off at one of the most iconic locations on the Omaha-North Platte, Neb., route, the s-curve known as Buttermilk Curve, about 20 miles east of North Platte near the village of Brady. We arrived early and enjoyed a procession of one freight train after another in bot...

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Will Big Boy run Thursday? The rail and rain gods will say soon

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

Here’s a quick note from North Platte, Neb., on Wednesday night. Whether Big Boy runs to Grand Island on Thursday, as scheduled, will remain a mystery until tomorrow morning. There’s still flooding at Gibbon, Neb., where the Wood River is overflowing due to locally heavy rains. I stopped by the site Wednesday on the drive in to watch the work. It appears that UP had to remove the pavement leading up to a crossing to let water drain. I saw several trains walk through the site wit...

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Who are the rockstar railfans? Besides you, of course

Posted one month ago by Angela Pusztai-Pasternak

Before I had a mortgage, I went to A LOT of concerts. It was and still is one of my favorite activities. In my top 10 performances is Paul Simon and Bob Dylan when they toured together in 1999. I scored tickets for their July 4 show at the former Marcus Amphitheater (now American Family Insurance Amphitheater) in Milwaukee. (I can't believe that was 20 years ago!) Their performance felt American, spiritual, appropriate for the holiday. I felt privileged to be breathing their same air. This w...

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Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014's Midwestern tour and what the trip means

Posted one month ago by Jim Wrinn

Big Boy No. 4014 goes out on the road again next week. It’s the first time for the newly restored locomotive to tour a big chunk of the Union Pacific system, and this time we’ll see a Big Boy in steam in places we don’t associate with a 4-8-8-4: Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. OK, it’s not the rugged west. There are no Wasatch Mountains, Peru or Sherman hills to climb. But this outing does have its attributes. It’s a 30-day, 1,500-mile extravaganza that will see t...

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What does Genesee & Wyoming's sale mean for railfans?

Posted one month ago by Brian Schmidt

There are a lot of unknowns around the $8.4 billion sale of shortline holding company Genesee & Wyoming to Brookfield Infrastructure. What railroads will be sold or retained? Where will the headquarters be? How will the locomotives be painted? The list goes on. One change I fear is the tightening of information around the railroad operations. As a publicly traded company, G&W has historically provided great access to financials and traffic figures aggregated from its component rail...

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Report from Colorado: narrow gauge, the Zephyr, a new museum, and a visit to two favorites

Posted 2 months ago by Jim Wrinn

I was in Colorado late last week and early this week. Here are notes and observations I made from a short visit to the Centennial State, which, for once, was green and flush with snowpack and rushing streams. Colorado Railroad Museum. I was honored to be a part of a day-long symposium on the transcontinental railroad last Saturday. The videographer of our made for PBS video, Journey to Promontory, Rich Luckin, put the program together with museum education curator Elizabeth Nosek. It w...

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