Hear the Rumble and Roar of Big Boy
Location: Cheyenne, Wyoming on the Union Pacific's Overland Route May 4th 2019; At the former Cheyenne Union Terminal Passenger Station;
Today it was a special day in American Railroad history. Today was a day that human, pony, stallion, colt, and filly railfans alike would hear the symphony of a engine pounding the rails up Sherman Hill with determination and vengeance. Today was a day that a locomotive one that made the Union Pacific famous for returns to the high iron of America's steel highway.
Today was the day a steam giant from the 20th Century built during WW2 thunders over it's domain and reclaims it's throne and title as the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive in the world. Today a king of the rails returns. Today was the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad in America and UP did something very special this time and it was big. An iron beast fire breathing beast that made Union Pacific the only railroad to own and operate a very unique locomotive to pull trains across their mountainous terrain in Utah and Wyoming.
Passengers both human and Equestrians were climbing aboard a 25 car passenger train all the cars were from the Union Pacific's heritage fleet. Streamlined passenger cars from the railroad's City passenger trains in grey, red, and yellow paint scheme. But the two engines pulling the train were UP FEF-3 4-8-4 numbered 844, but the second one in front of it which was heading the train wasn't 4-6-6-4 Challenger 3985. The 3985 was being restored for excursion service once again in the UP steam shops. The lead engine of the train was a locomotive that hasn't been seen operating in over a century and claimed the title of the most powerful class of steam locomotives ever built in the world and was only found in the US. It's gleaming newly applied black paint shown brightly from the sunlight off the locomotive's new boiler jacket.
The engine had had four lead trucks in the front, had two sets of eight wheels in the middle, and four trailing trucks to support the cab of the locomotive making it a 4-8-8-4. The engine had a black pained centipede tender just 844 and 3985 with Union Pacific white lettering on both left and right sides of the tender. The back end of the tender had a number which was in the lettering style and was painted white too and the engine's number was 4014 and there was only one type of steam locomotive that made the Union Pacific famous and was the only railroad in America to have this type of giant.
The engine was none other than the UP's newly acquired 3rd steam locomotive and now newly restored and operational and ready for service 4000 class Big Boy locomotive No: 4014. Today was the engine's madden run and the first Big Boy to return to the rails. The engine's very first assignment was to pull a 25 car passenger train from Cheyenne to Rawlans, Wyoming over its home rails that 4014 traveled over for many years before it made its final run on July 21, 1959 and was officially retired in December 7, 1961 and was sent to be displayed at Pomona, California at the Rail Giants Train Museum.
For many years the engine sat on display and thanks to the volunteers of the museum and a helping hand from Mother Nature herself 4014 was the one engine out of its eight surviving brothers that was in excellent condition which made it possible to restore it to operational service. In 2013 UP bought back 4014 for Excursion Service and now 6 years later the engine was ready for duty and pull a passenger train. Today it was the 4014's first official mainline madden run in the 21st Century over the route that it and its brothers pulled mile and a half long freight trains to their destinations.
In the crowd of people who were getting on board the train was Twilight and her friends along with Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart, and Flash Sentry. The 10 got tickets to ride the engine's first run and they were surprised by the number of people who came all the way out to Wyoming to see this fire breathing mammoth king of the rails. They were boarding the UP dome car named Challenger as conductors and UP employees allowed the passengers to climb aboard the train.
Twilight had gotten 10 tickets to ride the Big Boy's first run and the car Challenger was one of the only cars that had empty spots. Spike decided to stay back in Equestria to look after Twilight's place while they were away. But Flurry had gotten pretty excited when she heard the name Big Boy and had taken a liking to trains especially operating Steam locomotives in the United States which had several steamers in operation like NKP 2-8-4 Berkshire 765, PM 2-8-4 Berkshire number 1225, SOU 2-8-2 number 4501, Santa Fe 2900 Class 4-8-4 Northern 2926, C&O 4-8-4 number 614, N&W 4-8-4 J 611, and a few others. Shining and Cadence were planing to buy Flurry a Lionel Train starter set for her birthday or for Heart's Warmth Eve nowadays being called Christmas since Eques was starting to adopt US customs and culture.
Twilight had done a lot of research on the Big Boy locomotives thanks to the internet and learned that there were 25 engines built in the 20th century way before Equestria and its continent was transported to Earth and only 8 of them survived the scraper's torch while the other 17 were cut up for scrap. Now one which is 4014 which was one of the well maintained Big Boys in the country was reacquired by Union Pacific for excursion service and was restored within two years now it was ready to roll.
Twilight soon came to her seat which was in the bottom floor of the car as she took a seat next to the left window. Flash soon sat next to her as his seat was next to her. The two looked at each other with a smile and they were happy that they were together now. Ever since the two got married a few weeks ago it was one surprise after another and this was something that the two would remember for a long time and even when they have foals or colts of their own in the future. Pretty soon it was time for the train to go and head for Ogden.
In the cab of the massive ALCO 1941 graduate Ed Dickens the engineer of the engine and Neil Nistrum were the crew of the 4014 today. Everything was in running order after the engine was checked over for its first run on its home rails. Then after one more check Ed grabbed the radio and called to the dispatcher in the Cheyenne yard saying, "Dispatch this is Extra UP 4014 are we clear to pull onto the mainline? Over."
Dispatcher: "Extra UP 4014 your line is all clear. Green lights down the line. Take the highball. Over."
Then Ed replied back on the radio to the dispatcher, "Rodger that dispatch. 4014 out."
After Ed put down the radio he pulled the whistle chord and gave two loud blasts of the 4014's tugboat like chimed steam whistle then two blasts from 844's whistle came next as everyone cleared the way for the engine to start its trip on the railroad's famed Overland Route and over Sherman Hill where the Big Boys pulled their trains over and down when they were in operation in the 20th century. After releasing the breaks Ed pulled the throttle open slowly as the engine began to move as spectators watched in awe as the engine's driving wheels moved under their own power for the first time in years as they heard the loud chuffing sound of the engine and smoke shooting out of the double stacks of the engine. Everyone watched in amazement and awe as the two engines began to move forward and head for Ogden this was history in the making that will be remembered for a long time.
In the passenger cars everyone watched with excitement as the train left Union Station as the Big Boy began its journey to Ogden, Utah to celebrate the completion of the 1st transcontinental railroad. Twilight watched the yard go by slowly at first as the train began to pick up speed and felt like she was on one of Union Pacific's streamlined passenger trains. At a in brief moment Twilight's glowed white and saw herself in a cab of one of the other surviving Big Boy locomotives which was number 4012 when they were operation in the 1950s and saw the engineer grabbing train orders from the dispatcher on the ground as he hooped them to the engineer. The engine passed under the bridge that was on the west side of town that went over UP tracks and began the climb up Sherman Hill. Then Twi's eyes went back to normal and saw that the train went under the same bridge that she saw in her vision of the past as spectators on the sidelines had cameras out taking videos and photo of the train.
Twi had to smile and undstood why humans say traveling by train was a way to travel as you watch the scenery fly by you and see towns and cities that you never been to whoosh by. Flash could agree as well and knew trains in America played a very important role in joining the country from the east to the west by the transcontinental railroad. Twi looked to the left side of the car as she saw Flurry with Cadence and Shining watching the landscape fly by the train. Flurry was very excited about the ride as the train rolled through Spear, WY with a Union Pacific freight train on track 3 waiting for the excursion train to pass.
The train soon started to pick up speed and everyone could hear the loud chuffing of the two steam locomotives as far back as the observation car. Soon the train passed through locations like Harriman, Tie Sidding, Laramie, and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. As the day began to reach the late afternoon and the train was reaching its destination Twilight looked outside to see the beautiful southern Wyoming landscape with mountains in the distance as the UP mainline was nearing the Rockies. Twilight then looked at Flash and asked him, "How do you like the trip so far Flash?"
Flash looked back at his new wife and with a smile replied back to her, "It's wonderful honey. I now understand why humans in the United States said that train travel in America is so nostalgic."
Twilight smiled back at her new husband and nodded in agreement and said, "I agree with you. It's a way to travel and I'm never going to forget this for the rest of my life."
As Twi finished talking Flash then said to his new wife with a smile, "But I'm sure when we start have kids and if we take them on a steam excursion like this in the future. I have feeling they'll love to ride a train like this when they're older."
Twilight had to nod in agreement and wondered if their future kids would like to ride behind a vintage steam locomotive in the future. Well they will have to wait and find out when Twi becomes pregnant with her first foal. That is something the two will have to wait and see.
The two newly weds both looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by the passenger car the newly wedded couple were in. Train travel was way to glimpse into the past of America's rich Railroading history and everyone wished they saw steam locomotives in operation on class 1 railroads in the past before diesels came along. But now there was new locomotive on high iron once again ready to carry the history of American railroading into tomorrow as the train began to cross over a bridge that was east of Sinclair, Wyoming.
"For whatever locomotive progress that should put on the head of tomorrow's train. The rumble and roar of Big Boy will seem still to echo from the high country of Southern Wyoming."
As the passenger train chuffed into the distance with a beautiful sunset in the front of the train 4014 let out a long loud whistle as the train slowly went through a curve as the train continued on its journey towards Rawlans and Ogden, Utah. The chapter on steam locomotives in America may have ended in the 1960s, but today a new chapter in steam railroading has been forged and now the Big Boy has made its triumphant return to the rails of the Union Pacific as the king of steam returns.
Author's Note
Yes the quote at the very end was the ending line from the legendary Union Pacific promotional film Last of the Giants made in the late 1950s and early 1960s to document the Big Boys. Now there is one in service and right now I'm sure all the men who worked and maintained these locomotives so much are smiling down from heaven at one of the engines they worked on so much returned to steam. Also the cover picture of the story is a photo I took myself of the 4014 on final leg of the Great Race to Ogden on its return trip to Cheyenne last year in May.
As in the story I will never forget that moment as long as I live.
