We have tickets to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience tonight --- we've been waiting MONTHS for this to take place and I am super excited. Come along and share the fun.
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Big Boy Steam Engine Fun
Yesterday, Mister and I heard about Big Boy being in Fort Worth and we missed it. What? A little digging found their travel schedule for the next day and we quickly made plans to rise early and be in Midlothian when he arrives.
We've found a great spot under a bridge along the tracks and are pretty much at the front of the pack. Here is our view and as we wait.
Who is Big Boy?, you may be asking. Well, here is a LINK to a site with lots of technical information but the short of it is, "Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming. There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years of service. Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-restoration process. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.
Mister and I actually saw Big Boy 4004 in Cheyenne, WY (LINK) back in 2013, and we've seen the one in Dallas, but they are just on display, not operating. THIS sweetie today --- the ONLY one actually operating.
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