As the old steam engine rumbled out of Kemmerer, and continued on to the next stop in Granger, Union Pacific’s Heritage Equipment Manager told SVI, “You’ve been enjoying a once in a lifetime experience with a 1941 Big Boy.”
The train has been on a multi-state trip that started and ended in Cheyenne,
Dickens recalled the historic piece was first acquired by UP in 2013 and transported to Cheyenne in 2014. “We started a complete disassembly and restoration process in late 2017,” Dickens explained. “We completed it just in time for the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike in Promontory, Utah and the event in Ogden.”
RELATED: ED DICKENS UNION PACIFIC’S BIG BOY STOP IN KEMMERER –
The Heritage manager recalled, “It took us two-and-a half-years to completely disassemble this locomotive. Now it’s a completely restored original locomotive, with the exception of the coal apparatus. It was converted to burn oil.”
He added, “This is the way it used to be back in 1941 when the Big Boy was first placed in service.”
The tour included several announced stops in the various states but all along the way historical enthusiasts stopped at highway turnouts along the route to wave and clap for the passing train. Often the Big Boy responded with the iconic train whistle that brought cheers and shouts of support.
“They love the Big Boy. It is a tremendous ambassador for the Union Pacific,” said Dickens. “The rail fans, the train enthusiasts; they like the story of the Big Boy. The steam locomotive captures your imagination. It’s an animated machine. It makes it’s power in a way that you can see.”
Pausing for a moment in the conversation with SVI to let the Big Boy’s whistle sound off with that loud but similar sound known for the train whistles of the past, Dickens added, “You can feel the locomotive, You can feel that whistle thundering in your chest. You can feel the counterweight. Just the movement of the locomotive, surging and producing its power. This is the way it was done before diesel electric technology replaced the steam locomotive in 1959.”
The name, “Big Boy,” has proven to be iconic for train enthusiasts. “People love this Big Boy. They love the story of how it got its name. We write that in chalk on the front of the locomotive. We have a lot of comments on social media when we don’t have those words up there. They wonder where [the name is] and when we are going to put them it up there.”
Offering a summary of statistics for the historic engine, Dickens said, “They are just fascinated by the size of this. You look up there. It’s significantly longer than a standard locomotive. It weighs as much as three of our conventional locomotives. It produces 7,000 hp and weighs 610 tons. We are sitting 11-feet above the ground as we are rolling along at 40 mph.”
As the Big Boy rolled into Granger with SVI on board, it was nearing the end of long 2,700 mile journey. “This trip will conclude in a few days back in Cheyenne, where it will be off for a month to do all the necessary maintenance, the same maintenance they would have done back in the 1940s and 1950s,” said Dickens. “Then we will embark on a 57-day, 4,000 mile tour, traveling all the way out to Roseville California.”
Dickens concluded, “This locomotive creates a ground swell of enthusiasm as it’s traveling.”
For additional information on the Big Boy see: https://www.up.com/heritage/
SVI PHOTOS BY DAN DOCKSTADER –
