Chasing Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014
I went upstate on Thursday (June 11) and chased Union Pacific's amazing Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014. After leaving Hornell at 2:30pm, it didn’t have a public timetable, but using my storm chasing background, I managed to see the train six times as it moved east.
I started near Cameron Mills (first clip in the video and photos above), and then escaped the traffic jam to the interstate and got to Corning where I was surprised to see it while gassing up (it can move fast!). Then I saw it again in South Corning, later from behind a Walmart in Horseheads (click any photo to enlarge)
Then from an overpass in Chemung.
And then finally in Waverly (second clip of the video).
I had virtually scouted out and saved viewing locations in advance, and that worked out well.
You could hear the incredible whistle from miles away, echoing down the valleys. Up close, that whistle was one of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard! As the locomotive passed, you could feel the heat; talking to a train spotter at one of the stops he said the heat from the train trips the stuck brake detection sensors down the line (and that sends out an automated radio message which he could track--UP’s tracking web page was great but only updates about every 10 minutes).
It was so great to see so many people out celebrating something so cool. And while riding onboard was only for connected people or those willing to spend thousands, watching the historic train go by was something that anyone could enjoy for free. At each stop, everyone was excited and there were people from all backgrounds and all ages. My kudos to Union Pacific and the organizers for making this happen. It’s going to park in Scranton for a couple weeks and then be in Philly for the 4th of July; I highly recommend catching it while you can.
I didn’t quite manage to escape the traffic in Waverly as I could see a wicked shelf cloud on the leading edge of a severe thunderstorm coming in. I managed to escape the town and outrun the storm, then leap frogged it east and got a few shots of the storm front.