After the Big Boy schedule was released in mid-March, Trains wanted to know: Are the cities and towns along the way ready for onslaught of humanity expected to accompany 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 and sister 4-8-4 No. 844 across Wyoming?
Trains contacted three Wyoming cities where the locomotives will make overnight stops: Evanston, Rawlins, and Rock Springs. The answers were decidedly mixed.
In Evanston, where No. 4014 will stop overnight on May 6 to 7 and the 844-4014 duo on May 12, the city is planning an event at its roundhouse museum according to Mieke Madrid, Community Development Coordinator for the city of Evanston. The city is restoring the former Union Pacific roundhouse into event and office space, and the restored machine shop at the roundhouse will be the site of a private event on May 8. The Historic Preservation Commission has also been working on other plans for the visits.
“We are just now taking about it because now we have the schedule,” Madrid says. “We are making some plans to host many tourists that we will be receiving those days.”
Officials with the City of Rawlins were unavailable to comment, but Pam Thayer of the Downtown Development Authority was unaware of any special plans at this time.
At Rock Springs, the city’s Urban Renewal Agency, which would coordinate any events just heard the news and the dates the engines were coming the week of March 18, said agency manager Chad Banks. No. 4014 will stop overnight in Rock Springs on May 5, and Nos. 844 and 4014 on May 13 to 15. The agency is developing “marketing materials such as posters more for the community rather than tourism,” Banks said. “The plan is to develop information so people in the community and the region will know what’s going on. A couple of blocks from the main line where the engines will be parked is our museum with an extensive collection of railroad artifacts which will be doing additional displays on UP’s history and historic model trains,” he said.
During the week of March 25, Banks says, a committee will be meeting to brainstorm ideas on what more the city could be doing and capitalize on the visit so tourists have the best experience.
When asked about crowd control, Banks said there had not been discussion of that. The city is expecting crowds for the visit of the Experience the Union Pacific Rail Car on May 14, the only stop of the baggage car turned into a multi-media walk-through historic exhibition in Wyoming.
While these cities are naturally making plans for their own residents to celebrate, it appears none are aware or prepared to handle the huge crowds expected to follow the locomotives on their historic journey. Those planning to come to Wyoming in May would be well advised to prepare for congestion, traffic tie ups and huge crowds in cities and towns along the route, especially where the engines make lengthy stops.
— UPDATED: Additional information from Mieke Madrid. March 22, 2019, 2:14 p.m. Central time.
Hi, I have made plans to be in Ogden on may8th and may 9th, do I need tickets for any activity’s that will be going on like the celebration on may 9, and are there any other thing’s that I should know beside’s the fact it will be very crowded, appreciate your input, Thank you, Tom from Pa.
You guys take lots of interesting, scenic photos and videos. I can’t wait to view them. But, if you see anyone out there who looks like me, let me assure you it ain’t. There is no way I’m getting involved in that mess. A couple of years ago I drove from Denver through Cheyenne north and then northeast to Deadwood SD to run a marathon on a rail trail that was once the BN line in the area and I can say I have seen all of Wyoming I need to see. In fact I had seen all of what I needed to see in the first 10 miles out of Cheyenne. I had lunch in Lusk and I would hate to be stranded in that town. Have fun, take and share your photos and above all else be safe.
To Keith Jensen, unless you’ve been under a rock somewhere or have never chased steam, especially the big boy, then you have no idea of the size of the crowds that will be following it across Wyoming. John Winter is oh so very right. Solar eclipse’s may bring lot’s of traffic & people too, but you ain’t seen nuthin yet!
These cities had better get plenty ready. They won’t believe how many people will be visiting their communities while chasing the UP steamers, especially 4014. Steam always brings out the crowds, you’d think they would know that by now since they’re on the UP mainline. Even smaller towns around the area will be flooded with people looking for a place to eat & sleep for the night.
I concur with John Winter as I often experience the same traversing Wyoming. My biggest worry during the solar eclipse was that gasoline stations would run dry even though Wyoming is an oil exporter state with two refineries. I did not experience that nor did I hear of any such problems. I doubt this event will match a fifth of the participation in the solar eclipse.
The fuel problem is always normal for Wyoming. The gas stations can be far apart and vary in price by at least $0.50. Cheyenne is not the cheapest but if you do not get fuel in Laramie and find oh-s I am not making it to Sinclair, the two gas stations in between charge about $0.70 more per gallon. Those of us who went on vacation in these parts during our childhood will wonder about there being an oil refinery in a place called Sinclair. Usually gasoline is cheaper a few miles farther west in Rawlins. For those coming from the east I usually find the cheapest gasoline prices along HWY 30 in downtown Kimball NE.
The weather problem is also always bad for Wyoming, I have never experienced a warm day in Wyoming. The best is the sun is out but the wind is strong. At the altitudes along the UP line you can expect snow anytime of the year. With the normal wind there it means blizzard well into May. Except for Sherman Hill the climate is dry. Consider that the line crosses the continental basin, two continental divides because no surface water flows out of between.
Come prepared to be stranded.
Plan an event and they will come!
Supply your car with an emergency kit. Blankets-Food-Water-extra gas. It can be many dozens of miles between services in a very remote part of the country & you might get stuck in traffic for hours & it can still get cold in the high plains. Some exits off of I-80 only lead to dirt roads. Expect short tempers as some people only think of themselves. I wonder how many drones will be filling the airspace along the ROW. Mr. Jenkins & Howard are right. Officials can be overwhelmed in a hurry like a flash flood of people & local authorities need to start coordinating now & sharing experiences with these authorities. Mr. Jenson mentioned getting off the main road onto dirt roads. But some of these dirt roads are private ranch roads. Beware, many of these dirt roads are not named with many forks to choose from. It doesn’t take much to get lost even with GPS. As someone who has explored WY more times than I can count, this is not a place to take for granted.
Trains should not have to contact the local authorities. I know some retired UP employees that volunteer at the Cheyenne roundhouse and escort visitors so the employees can keep working on 4014. The last time I heard them asked for an update they said they were not allowed to because all information has to come from Omaha.
A couple of years ago I was slowly working my way along the UP line from the Mississippi River to Cheyenne after a private steam charter back east. I shot multiple trains from a dirt road running parallel and several hundred feet from the mainline east of Grand Island, NE, then found a location on the edge of town to shoot. It was a public road crossing with enough room for me to park off of the pavement and off of the right-of-way.
After I set up my video camera on a tripod just outside of UP’s right-of-way a UP truck pulled up behind my vehicle. The truck was pulling one of the trailers carrying a smashed auto that UP sets out next to road crossings. The driver got out and started asking me questions. When he figured out that I spend a lot time around trains and know what I am doing, he explained that there had been multiple fatalities in Grand Island including a sixteen year old pedestrian hit by a train the night before. I then told him he was going to have his hands full next Sunday when 844 comes through. His response was oh-no, it’s coming through here and on a Sunday! So if Omaha doesn’t tell their safety people the schedule, don’t expect them to tell the local authorities.
The last time I rode behind 844 we only had one photo runby at a poor location and on the darkside of the track. Ed Dickens put on a good show, but the location is up to the conductor and dispatcher. While I would pay more, I don’t know of anyone that has broke even selling tickets to ride behind UP steam in the last decade. Even the sell out Cheyenne Frontier Days train is no more.
I scouted the line across Wyoming last October while returning from a charter steam photo shoot on the Oregon Coast Scenic Line. A lot of the locations we could access when 3985 made its first run are now posted with no trespassing signs. This includes locations in “Trains” recent DVD. Asked about this the producer said they had UP’s permission to go there. Even before before the no trespassing signs showed up on Sherman Hill the property owners up there were reported to greet railfans with a shotgun.
I have my one a day locations picked out. But I know some railfans that are going to stay far away from this circus.
Even when local officials are aware of such events and believe they are prepared, situations can overwhelm quickly.
May 2016: A Montgomery County ,VA deputy sheriff pulled up to the crossing in Vicker, VA. about 5 minutes before N&W 611 blasted through and was astonished at the hordes of people and their vehicles cramming every foot of this hamlet. I overheard him say to one bystander that he would have to give out 40 parking tickets, but there wasn’t time. During the ensuing 30 or so minutes, he had his hands full trying to keep 1 lane of traffic moving, and trying to keep people from stopping on the crossing. Deputies appeared at 2 other locations I was at, but both times the train had already passed.
As a former Emergency Manager, my recommendation is that someone at Trains should be speaking with the County Sheriffs, local police chiefs, local emergency managers, State Police and State DOT as a “public service” from the rail enthusiast community. Key them in to what has taken place when 611 went roaming around the southeast, and tell them to magnify that by at least an order of 10. Suggest that they reach out to their contacts at UP Railroad Police (or pick up the phone and make contact) so that they can have some private public safety discussions and start making plans.
Many rail enthusiasts know what is going to take place, and if the locals have had no prior contact with UP RR police they most likely don’t know what’s about to hit them. Aside from the respectful railfans who will venture out that way, there is most likely going to be large groups of people flying down the highways, pacing the locomotive(s), and trespassing all over the place (on both railroad ROW and private property) to get their photos and videos. They probably won’t be able to stop most of it, but they should at least be well aware of what is probably going to happen.
From these reports of cluelessness, it would be wise to bring your own food and beverages.
This event will be nothing compared to what Wyoming went through during the solar eclipse. But at least then everyone knew well in advance and didn’t have to wait for UP to announce the schedule. Ranchers had signs up advertising how much they charged to camp on their land. Lusk set up a festival for visitors. Douglas had their fairgrounds open for camping.
That morning traffic came to a stop five miles outside of Lusk. I turned off onto dirt roads and drove them for 30 miles to get to a bridge over the UP’s newer line for coal to move from Lusk to Scottsbluff, NE. Ten miles from the nearest paved road and there were people everywhere.
After the eclipse auto traffic was continuous for more than an hour going over that bridge. I managed to go home to Denver in six hours by back roads. The next day news reported that it took people 24 hours to get back to Denver on the interstate. Wyoming Highway Patrol reported that there 2.5 million cars on their roads the day of the eclipse which is about five times the state’s population.
Hopefully, this generation of rail fans will keep safety and courtesy in mind during the Promontory Point ceremony and related rail operations.
One or a series of untoward mishaps — i.e., railroad trespass, injury on railroad property, motor vehicle collisions — might negatively impact the Railroad’s interest in conducting future historic operations.
No shot or pacing clip is worth endangering future 4014/844 events!
My plan for this event is to apply a lesson learned from several train-chasing several days with Jim Bistline back in the 1970s. One classic daily “money shot” is far-and-away better than a dozen “grab shots.”
So, for still shots, olivfind in advance THE single best available location, one that will maintain its artistic appeal if multiple other rail fans show up. Take one or two “postcard views.”
If filming, find one location that will allow high-end production values.
Indeed, including crowds in your view definitely is an important part of recording the whole event.
Once you’ve gotten that special photo (or two), or an outstanding video scene, stand back and soak up the sights and sound of history being made as history is recreated. Trying to chase, or trying to get 50 images, will be neither safe nor fun.
A word to the wise — decent hotel accommodations already are scarce.
Somewhat scary to think the towns on the route don’t have events planned? The railroad gives an out of the blue tourist slam dunk to these towns and they’re “not aware of any special events”??