My Little Union Pacific: Big Boys are Magic

It was hot rainy June day, and in the Union Pacific steam locomotive shop in Cheyenne Wyoming crews were bustling about getting the Big Boy engines 4023 and 4006 ready for the day, due to the increase in freight the UP decided to double head the giants on freight. The two behemoths were built by the American Locomotive Company, forged from steel and iron, these two monsters help make up the backbone of UP freight, with weight of a million and a half pounds and length of 130 ft+ these two iron Clydesdales can tow a five and a half mile long train on level track.

The crews for the two goliaths were reading their packets and time tables to check the train at which they were assigned to haul and the route they had to travel while their locos were being prepared, the train happened to be a long mix of several loads, well over 100 cars plus a caboose “well, looks like we got a nice long train to haul,” said Jack, a burly black man with dark hair and brown eyes, he had driven the 4014 on freight service so he was selected to drive the 4023 to help the lead the rookies,

his fireman said, “it sure is great to have not one but two of these monsters running,” she was an attractive middle aged woman from Spain who moved to the US, her name was Maria and she was very fond of American steam especially the Union Pacific Big Boy, she had do a lot of hard bargaining to get her job and she proved to be head strong and determined, she was finally able to convince the railroad management to let her on board and she was able to prove herself more than capable, she had the honor serving as the fireman on the 4014 with Jack.

“Okay then, so we get a nice long train to haul, that sounds good to me,” said Bill, a blonde haired blue eyed athletic youngster who was the appointed fireman of the 4006, he was as excited as can be, he finally got the chance to work on the legendary Big Boy.

“Settle down Bill,” said the female engineer playfully, her name was Emily, a nerdy but powerfully built red head who had a very friendly personality, she acts like a big sister to Bill.

“Alright,” said the shop foreman “I need the 4023 and 4006 out of the shop and hooked on to the train, it’s go time,” he called out.

“Yes sir!” the Big Boy team called out, the Big Boys were already steaming up, the crew mounted in to them, the 4006 left the shop first and rolled on to the 135ft turntable, since it was the one hauling the train it had to be turned around first, after it was facing the right direction Emily grabbed the Johnson bar and eased it back, she then grabbed the throttle and slowly began to open it, the Locomotive backed up and was now about to be coupled, the conductor helped guide her to hook up the train.

“Alright, your looking good so far,” he said, “50 ft, 30 ft, alright start slowing down,” Emily carefully began ease the loco to a halt, “alright your good,” said the conductor. CLANK! Came the sound of the two knuckles clashing and locking firmly. Meanwhile, the 4023 was on the turntable, it was spun until the tender was facing the 4006’s direction, Jack grabbed the Johnson bar and pulled back on it, the locomotive responded by gently backing up and was soon coupled on the 4006.

“Alright, Big Boy Team you are cleared for departure, have a nice trip,” said the dispatcher,

“roger that,” said Emily, “go time,” she said through the radio Jack gave her the thumbs up sign from the cab of the cab of his locomotive, Emily grabbed the whistle cord and gave it two firm tugs

“WOOO, WOOO!” the chime whistle responded, the two engineers released their brakes and opened up their throttles, the wheels gave a mighty slip from the rain slicked rails but soon took hold as the two Big Boys snorted out of the yard going west bound, they soon crossed over the junction putting them on their assigned route, the train slowly began to gather speed as it charged down the line at a mighty clip, the wheels pounded the rails as the train accelerated to eighty miles an hour.

The two locomotives charged through the drenching downpour, as they sped down the line the two crews entertained each other with jokes and stories, spotting a tunnel up ahead the crews blew their whistles to warn anyone in the tunnel that their train was coming through. The train whizzed in to the tunnel, the crew were given gas masks in case of smoke build up so they slipped them on. But as they were traveling through the tunnel spotted a light at the end of the tunnel, the crews knew that it was not the end of the tunnel, so they blew their whistles, no response so it was not a train, “what’s going on here,” they all thought.

The light got a brighter and brighter until it flooded both cabs with a blinding shine, the crews shielded their eyes as best they could, the light then receded and darkness, returned, “what happened, is everyone all right?” Bill asked looking at Emily with concern,

“Yep, everyone is okay here,” replied Jack, the train then exited the tunnel and charged through a field, the crew looked around confused, it was as dark as night and was no longer raining,

“This does not look like our route,” they said in unison, Jack decided to blow the whistle while they were traveling through the strange landscape. Everything looked out of place, there were now rolling hills and the mountains were now behind them, the colors were to bright, and once again it was dark. The train continued down the line at top speed, Jack was relieved it was double line track but he still could not tell which line the other train would be traviling on. "WHOO, WHOO!" the whistle cried out, no response, he tried to radio the yard, nothing but an eerie static sound came through.

A lone mail mare was traviling down the dark road on late night delivery run. She was grey pegasus with a blonde mane and tail, and crossed eyes that were an orange color. her name was Derpy Hooves, she continued to travel happily down the road when she came to a railroad crossing. She heard a something that sounded like a whistle, but it was deeper in pitch and much louder than what she was used to hearing, so she decided to investigate. Flapping her wings to find the source, her crossed eyes opened in shock when she found the source of the whistle, landing softly on the ground, she witnessed two dark colored behemoths with silver fronts scream past with a loud "CHUGGA, CHUGGA," she gasped at their size, noise, and power, she was even more impressed with the train the two mammoths were hauling, she decided to finish her run and find out more in the morning so she flew away to deliver her mail, but she could not get the metal monsters out of her mind. She looked back at the giant snaking form, "was that supposed to be a train?" she said to herself "the Doctor and Dinky will want to hear about this," she muttered. She heard the whistle let another lonesome cry as the train continued forwards.