UP’s Big Boy on the move T
here’s nothing like a steam engine to bring a crowd trackside. We have to look no further than Southern California in the very early hours of January 26. There, at Covina, a subur- ban community in the San Gabriel Valley just east of Los Angeles, the faithful of all ages con-
gregated at the Metrolink station to witness the coming out party of Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy 4014 on its first outing in more than 60 years. Previously carefully preserved at the RailGiants Train Museum at the Pomona Fairplex, this be- hemoth of railroading was being moved to the nearby UP yard at Colton, California, on the first leg of its trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming. There it is scheduled to go through the railroad’s steam shop for a multi-year rebuilding. When it emerges, the Big Boy will again have heat in its firebox and steam in its boiler and once again become the symbol of the mightiest active steam locomotive to grace modern railroading. One would have to have ice water in his–or her–veins not to get a thrill at seeing 4014 at Cov- ina in the company of a set of spick and span EMD diesels that only UP could assemble: a pair of SD40-2’s, SD70ACe 1996 in its heritage Southern Pacific paint scheme, and leading the parade, SD70M 4884. And no, for the 4884 and the 1996, this was not a random assignment. The American Locomotive Company (Alco) built 25 Big Boys for Union Pacific beginning in 1941
to move freight between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Their arrival, however, was also the beginning of the swan song for steam domination of U.S. railroading. Because of that, the 25 lasted just about two decades before being vacated from the roster. Eight, including the 4014 were donated to communities throughout the country. Which brings us back to Covina. The vast majority of people admiring 4014 knew little of its
past. It was of little consequence to them. What they did know, however, was that they were looking at a genuine piece of American ingenuity, American know how, American creativeness, American ability, and just as importantly, American pride. While they were few in number, the 25 Big Boys and thousands upon thousands of their smaller brethren were an important reason why American railroads, coming out of a crippling 1930’s depression, were able to be thrust into moving unparal- leled tonnage demanded by World War II–and succeed.
Only a minority in that Metrolink parking lot would be able to remember seeing Big Boys active- ly hauling freight. An even smaller minority were even born when they were first delivered. But in that parking lot hours before dawn, men, women, and children were witness to something only dreams are made of–a big-time, full-size, giant of a steam locomotive not being hauled dead just to be cut up into scrap metal to be reborn as a new car, a steel beam in a building, or a can to hold veg- etables. No, they were witnessing a big-time, full-size, giant of a steam locomotive taking its first steps to again becoming a living, breathing machine to be mentioned in the same breath as a mas- sive ocean going liner or the Space Shuttle. This first move, the move from Pomona to Colton, is just a baby step compared to what comes
next. After spending up to two months at Colton–the Big Boy will be on display to the public on specific days as well as get a complete going over by the steam crew–it will be hauled dead up and over Southern California’s Cajon Pass, through Barstow and Yermo, onward to Las Vegas and then into Utah. At Ogden the 4014 will re-enter the route it knew as home and eventually arrive in Cheyenne. There, on warm days and cold, the steam crew will systematically rebuild the Big Boy into better than new condition, and it will be ready to participate in Union Pacific’s 150th anniver- sary celebration at the end of this decade. In the meantime, its supporters will grow, and even those people that morning in Covina who might have been only lukewarm when the 4-8-8-4 arrived, will become full-fledged diehard fans. And here’s the conversation that proves it. One person, who accompanied a friend to the Covina event and was perhaps a little less enthusiastic than others, was overhead asking about the loco- motives. The friend pointed to one of the diesels and started to explain when he was cut off. “Not those,” his companion said. “Those are diesels. But THAT…pointing to the Big Boy…THAT is a locomotive! THAT is something I want to see again and again!”
BOB MILLER 38
photography/JOSEPH A. STRAPAC MARCH 2014
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