I was on that train! It was an amazing sight to see for sure, I was waiting at the rear window of the last car for over an hour to see the Big Boy go by, and it worked out beautifully! After watching another video someone else took at the Gold Run crossing I also noticed that one of the crew members was watching from the door of the first car of the train too, so they got a pretty good view of it as well!
Great shots. I Have driven over Donner Pass on I-80 several times, but I only know a few places were the railroad is close to the road. I am impressed that you were able to run ahead of the train so many times. I assume you had these spots mapped out ahead of time. Good job!
I couldn’t be there to observe in person. This video was wonderful. A sincere thank you for your fine effort in making this video possible to thousands of viewers.
Awesome video. I absolutely love that steam whistle. And in this video it sounds better then in most because of the reverb/echo in the woods for example. Thx for sharing!
Lovely video. Always keeping an eye on RU-vid for similar videos. Nearest in size we have down under is the Beyer Garratt 6000 (4 8 4 + 4 8 4) in N.S.W. weighing in at a measly 250+ tonnes. I presume the EMD is there just in case. The two tank cars behind 4014s tender are for water I presume. Stay safe chasing the trains.
all is correct. the diesel is assisting up donner pass, no use pushing the steamer too hard in new territory, and its dynamic braking is a plus going downhill.
I wish they'd make seats on the train its pulling so you can ride along with the history. My grandfather was an engineer for the old Nickle Plate and retired in 1954, before I was born. So, it's in my blood just never had a chance to ride the steam train at least once. Someone noted when it returned that one feature of 4014 was going to be revenue service, or not just running it around as some sort of relic. He said that no tickets are ever sold for the consists and they are run as 'office trains'.
None of what you have been told is true. 4014 is in service for public relations purposes. It will never be used in revenue service. Every trip 4014 has made since it's inaugural run in 2019 has one passenger excursion during the trip when tickets are available to ride the train. UP does not sell the tickets. My wife and I rode the train in 2019 on it's return trip to Cheyenne after the Spike150 celebration in Ogden UT. That was it's inaugural run and was double headed with 844. Dome seats were $5000. We had coach seats in the Columbine dome car and they were $3000 each. Those tickets were sold by the Utah Historical Society. During this trip the passenger excursion was sponsored by the Cheyenne UP Museum from Roseville CA to Sparks NV. The tickets are very limited. In 2019 there were only 90. I heard that the Roseville to Sparks had only 140 and that they were only $800.
Ah, he was not feeling too good that morning. You can tell by how the horn sounded, some what wet and low pitched. I've heard it before on a cold wet May morning in Cheyenne, where I live. They fired up the Big Boy, rolled him out, tried to toot the horn, and it was more like a wet raspberry. My uncle who taught me all about steam. Once told me, Steam Engines will either work great, or they will not, and if not, there isnt much you can do, but put it back in the barn or round house. But they could not do that at the time of this video.
Great video, I was just a few buildings down from where you filmed in Truckee. I was at the Amtrak station when it passed me. Alot of people wanted to see that Big Boy.
Looks like a scene out of 'Back To The Future III'. Dr. Emmett Brown would be proud. "Great Scott!!" Best model railroading photoshop I've ever seen! Great film editing, too. The people look SO realistic! :0/
Big Boy's smoke is only a drop in the bucket compared to all the smoke from the forest fires burning there. Their smoke is even affecting the air quality here in Utah. Maybe Cali should ban people so there wouldn't be so many fires started.🤭
It’s a one time run chill out jeez. I’m pretty sure planes pollute a lot more and that’s coming from a avgeek. 1600 pounds of CO2 per passenger to be exact
Incredible shots of this beautiful machine. Thank you so much for sharing! Does anyone know does UP run on the same route as the Central Pacific built in the 1860's?
4:25 wow one of an amazing meet I bet the Amtrak crew slowed down not only because of the people trackside but also so their passengers could witness the world‘s largest steam locomotive whipping by
Amtrak had to slow down and stop, due to idiots either on or way too close to the track. I was at that Gold Run crossing, some people were acting dumb, and the poor people on the opposite side got skunked, the Amtrak train completely blocked their view as Big Boy roared by, they only saw a few seconds of Big Boy approaching and going through the crossing, when Amtrak rolled up and stopped.
Quality footage! Cool to have been in some of those locations before, makes it all the more real. Do they ever run the engine/train without a diesel/electric assist?
Well done, sir! Did you have help at the various locations or did you "race ahead" to the next spot? Either way, thank you for your efforts! I wasn't able to come up to see him at Roseville. I was going to stay at my sister-in-law's house in Lincoln. But plans never aligned. Seeing scenes at Norden these days are really depressing for me these days. I'm a retired Park Ranger and one of my best friends was a resident Ranger at Donner Memorial State Park. He is a train buff as well and when I would come up to work with him, depending on our shift, we would go up and over the Pass to Norden to have breakfast, lunch or dinner at the old cafe in the snow shed complex, then go over to the turntable and swap lies with the "guys". And to see the old double track gone, the tunnels vandalized... I'm sorry, I'm starting to tear up. Well, I've got this saved so I can watch it over and over and over ... My second, third and fourth HO layout represented the The Hill from Colfax to Truckee and still carry my fictional SP subsidiary the "Pacific Crest Railway" liveries. Layout No. 6 (under construction) is in northwest Colorado. What to do. What to do? Fortunately, I took over scenery work at the Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum (Salinas, CA) two and a half years ago and spend most of my modeling time on that. Perhaps the Rio Grande will be amenable to merger negotiations?
@@ironcityrailfan8467 4014 and 844 for that matter almost always travel with a diesel in the consist for a number of reasons: to provide assistance if needed, to provide dynamic braking and in case of a mechanical failure on the steam locomotive. In modern times the railroad can’t afford to have the mainline blocked by a broken down steam locomotive.
