By Trains Magazine
Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53187; 1 hour and 30 minutes, NTSC format.
The steam story of the decade is Union Pacific’s announcement that it is going to repatriate and restore one of the eight surviving 4-8-8-4 Big Boy steam locomotives. Folks have been asking about this for years, but during an excellent 1993 banquet speech in Scranton, then-UP steam boss Steve Lee managed to convince those in attendance that it would never happen for a number of compelling reasons. Thus, two decades later, the announcement that No. 4014 would return to Cheyenne came as quite the surprise to many.
Narrated by Trains Magazine Editor Jim Wrinn, the DVD starts with UP staff preparing the locomotive for movement out of the Rail Giants museum. UP’s new steam boss Ed Dickens takes viewers on a tour of No. 4014 where the viewer can inspect parts of the locomotive not generally seen by the public. We then watch as snap track is placed onto the parking lot and see a time lapse view of the locomotive’s exit from the museum.
The magazine’s staff has been following this story since it broke, first publishing the special “Big Boy on the Road to Restoration” magazine earlier this year. At that time, the locomotive had just made the difficult trek across the Pamona, Calif., Fairplex parking lot and was towed to West Colton. In addition to providing another perspective on the Southern California activity, this DVD continues the story of the locomotive’s journey from Southern California to Wyoming.
The move onto Southern California Regional Rail Authority track had to take place at night so as not to interfere with Metrolink operations. We see the workers cutting a switch into the main line and then UP’s SP heritage unit 1996 moves the locomotive onto the main line, after which the train was hauled backwards to Bassett. There, the appropriately numbered SD70M No. 4884 led the short train to West Colton yard.
The video really picks up after the locomotive leaves West Colton. This part of the journey had the Big Boy passing through Cajon Pass and stopping in Victorville and Barstow before overnighting in Yermo, Calif. Then, led by SD70M No. 4014, the train headed across the Mojave Desert, climbing Cima Hill before arriving in Los Vegas. This desert is a fantastic place to watch trains, and the video crew takes advantages of several locations to film this train.
Subsequent scenes show No. 4014’s train heading from Las Vegas to Ogden, Utah, where Dickens is interviewed against a backdrop of historic UP “family” power. Then, the train enters the home stretch, heading east over historic Big Boy territory through Weber and Echo canyons before entering Wyoming and passing over Sherman Hill. By the time the train gets to Hanna, Wyo., rain has replaced the Mojave Desert’s sunshine for the final lap into Cheyenne.
UP’s impending restoration of No. 4014 is a huge story and this video provides a nice historical record of the first steps “On the Road to Restoration.”
