I am 81 now and, as a boy, I would run down to the tracks and watch each time I heard the whistle of a steam engine. I wanted to be an engineer, but I became an airline Captain instead.
Good choice! Unfortunately the airline industry is what put a lot of these passenger trains and their locomotives out of business- both Steam and Diesel/electric.
Me too, although steam was long gone by my time, my first big fascination was anything and everything to do with the railroad. Now I'm a trucker, but what an era it must have been to lived during the tail end of the steam era! When my grandpa was a kid, he and his brother could catch rides on the caboose of a steam locomotive into town to take in a movie or whatever for 25 cents!
This must be the most awesome vehicle to drive. I mean, aeroplanes may be bigger, faster and such but with this you are completely in touch with all the mechanics and power. Ed has one of the best jobs in the world. Thanks for sharing this. Simon
When I was a child one of the things i loved doing was pretending to be an engineer in the cab of the Big Boy at the L.A. County fair. It's so wonderful to see it come alive again in my lifetime.
Great video!! I bet any engineer or fireman that operated a 4000 back in the 1940’s and 50’s never saw a cab that clean and tidy; beautiful restoration of the 4014!!👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
What a majestic machine! I have loved the 4-8-8-4's since I was a kid. I always loved 3985 and wondered man, what if a 4000 ever ran again? Here it is. Amazing! This just shows how much the 4000's meant to the Union Pacific.
Beautiful, impressive loco, excellent video (shot 'out west' -- beautiful). I'm an 'airplane nut' but there is NOTHING more impressive than a GIANT steam locomotive shootin' out steam and smoke and sounding a steam whistle. Always amazed at how so many huge, heavy, 'loco' parts can be assembled and run at high speed without exploding and running off the tracks. Keep her running and best wishes to everyone who makes that possible. She's a national treasure.
2:11 - Love the wrist flick to control that whistle!! Who do I have to bribe to get a ride in the cab?? When I was a kid I wanted to be a train engineer - I even had a train engineer hat. I did become an engineer, a Mechanical engineer.
It's a different monster when actually shoveling coal. That oil feed fire is not the same. The power it has when coal fire feels a true inspiring machine made by man. It's just sad that 95 percent of the steam locos are being converted to oil burners. I did fireman work for 6 years on 618 and 75 in heber, Utah.
Two men could not shovel sufficient coal into the heart of this beast to keep the pressure at 300psi. It had to use the screw auger to deliver coal to evenly distribute the fuel inside the boiler. The Fireman controlled the auger from his seat and balanced water insertion with independent valves during the run. Every function was manually controlled. Nothing automated, nothing programmed. Just experienced operators trained to 1940’s operations keeping the monster happy and fed! 🚂
When it was sitting in Pomona I got to blow the whistle They had air pumped in . Sounds fantastic with steam .glad it's free on the rails again . fantastic job those people did just great
IRON~HORSE'S..Are Amazing..Still Running To This Day ! ~~ My Grandfather Was Born In 1877..Became An Engineer And Ran Trains..Starting In 1900..WOW ! ~~ Great To See Pieces Of History..Still On The Go !
that steam engine train weighed over a million pounds and could pull a 5 1/2 mile train by itself awesome that's 1 of a kind they don't make like that no more 😮😮 alot trains hauled the goods 4 WW2 during the war years 😊😊 OMG 7 11 2O24
Very nice video. As a boy I would go and wait for the commuter train to stop at the station. It was pulled by a steam locomotive and I believe it was one of the last in the country. This was the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in the early 60’s. It was good to see parents bringing their children to see living history.
I used to watch the Union Pacific VHS TAPE that came with the Book. Over and over again! And this scene came on just like on youtube now. Coal needs to make a comeback in the USA. I found out from recent online research of my own. That there are coal burning railways in Europe still used for commuter service.
My dad was a fireman on the Northwestern Pacific in Northern CA in the 1950s. Now I take his grandchildren to see steam trains around the west. The UP crew are hard workers Proud Americans.
Oh no, I was just in Elko. I didn't see any info on this & I was at the museum. Would love to see this coming through the Palisades. Great shots of the Humboldt river crossing. See you at the Star! & Thanks to all for the hard work of keeping these running.
wow!! my brother and I were traveling on the road by the tracks just a few weeks ago on our way to and from Reno. wish we could have seen Big Boy!! we're both RR enthusiasts from our days as kids living near tracks in the early 1960's! spent a night in Elko and couldn't sleep well that night but watched and recorded trains running past our hotel in the wee hours of the morning at the Quality Inn on the N side of town.
I seen a big boy in person it makes Shea locomotive in Cass WV seem very small and Baldwin 4 4 0 seem like a toy which was a switcher or shunt engine in the yard
