To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike, the Union Pacific Railroad restored on of their biggest locomotives, “Big Boy” 4014. During 2019, they have been touring as much of the UP system as possible. On November 17, I followed 4014 from Neodesha to Paola.
The Union Pacific police are duly-sworn special agents, but I think they still have to abide by local traffic ordinances.
The Neodesha fire department brought out a large US flag and hoisted it to one of their ladder trucks
You almost had to have a drone to get good pictures. Someone actually brought one.
There was a crowd to greet 4014.
Even at the recommended 25 feet away from the rails, one could still wind up on the receiving end of a hot steam bath.
Even at a rural crossing north of town, there were a bunch of cars
Broadside view of 4014 north of Neodesha
From Mont Ida, a small community southwest of Garnett. The haze in this photo was from dust courtesy of a vehicle on a parallel gravel road.
Even late into the evening north of Paola, there were plenty of people to see the steam train, and plenty of cars parked along the roadway. My car happes to be that white one just to the left of the locomotive.
Bringing up the rear of the train is this platform observation car with a special drumhead for the occasion.
Next time, I’ll present photos from a little closer to home.
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