The Steam Locomotive Lives On!

[MineralMan]

Union Pacific has restored its Big Boy steam locomotive #4014, the largest steam locomotive class of all time. It's back on the rails, and doing a nationwide tour. Today, it went past a crossing near my home in St. Paul, MN. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch history steam by, much as it did for a century before diesel took over. Check it out:

[Hotler]

1. Thanks for sharing. I think UP has another one they...

roll out for Cheyenne Frontier Days.

[MineralMan]

7. That's what I understand. The Big Boy is on a national

tour through the midwest. I tracked down its schedule and discovered that it would be going right through my neighborhood, so I went down to take the video this morning. Wow!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. nicely done!

As it approached, I was talking to myself, "Please track the loco as it passes!" Very nicely done!

That was hand-held? No tripod?

[MineralMan]

12. Thanks! Yup. Hand-held.

I used my Kindle Fire tablet to shoot that. Both hands, with my elbows pressed against my body. I panned by turning my whole body.

It's still a little shaky, especially when I panned back to catch the cars passing, once the loco was out of range. Still, I'm pleased with the video, overall.

Fortunately, the Kindle Fire lowered the sound level on the recording automatically. I didn't even know it had that capability. It's only 720p resolution, but that's good enough for YouTube. I'm going to cast it to my big TV later today. We have a Google TV dongle plugged in, so Chrome will send it there no problem.

[SouthernProgressive]

2. All kinds of beautiful.

Wonder why there is a diesel locomotive in the mix?

[MineralMan]

4. The diesel is there because of regulations.

If the steam loco breaks down, the diesel pushes it. It's a requirement, from what a train buff who was there told me. That makes sense, I suppose.

Sadly, I was watching the video while I was making it, so I didn't get to just look at the train as it passed. Fortunately, the video system in my Kindle fire damped down the sound to a reasonable level. As the train passed, the sound was huge!

My house is just a couple of blocks from the tracks, and that crossing is only about six blocks away. It's a little used track from St. Paul to Chicago, through Wisconsin. 2-4 freight trains a day use it. It's the Altoona Subdivision road.

[SouthernProgressive]

6. Really neat. Thanks for sharing and following up.

I use to sit with my grandfather and play trains. He had a whole outfit he would wear.

[VMA131Marine]

8. Steam locomotives were actually very reliable

Something would have to physically break to stop them

[MineralMan]

10. That's true, but regulations require a diesel backup locomotive

on main line roads, apparently.

[Bettie]

3. It stops in our town on Friday

we're planning on going down (a block from our house).

[MineralMan]

5. Oh, be sure to go. It's very impressive, especially

in motion. A wonderful opportunity to see railroad history.

[virgogal]

11. I'm old and grew up near them,they just

mean soot and filth to me.

[MineralMan]

13. Well, that, too, of course. But now, it's nostalgic.

Trains used to go through my home town, too, in California. In high school, my steady girlfriend and I used to park at an isolated spot next to the tracks to, you know, "talk." A train went by that spot every night at 10 PM, which let us get home before her curfew. Sometimes we got so involved with "talking" that we forgot the time, you know.

[mnhtnbb]

14. My oldest son adored steam engines when he was young.

We made at least a couple of trips to see the Big Boy on display in Omaha when we were living in northwestern MO.

Posting your video to my fb page so that the now almost 33 yo son can see it!

[MineralMan]

15. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing the video!

[panader0]

16. I love trains.

I have been on trains throughout Europe as a child in 56 and 57.
I hopped freights between Salem, Oregon and Seattle a few times.
I rode the old Mexican train twice, once all the way to Mexico City.
I put down the window and got black dust in my teeth.
I'm getting ready for one of my last adventures, a trip by train to
Copper Canyon in Mexico.

Thanks for the post.

[MineralMan]

17. I'm glad you liked it!

I'm a fan of steam, to some degree. First steam train I rode was in the 1950s at Knott's Berry Farm in Anaheim, CA. I've ridden a steam train out of Fish Camp, CA a couple of times. It runs from a motel there, once or twice a day on a short excursion.