Big Boy, steam history!

Tuesday, September 10th was a day for history. Keith and I headed to Nokomis, Illinois. We went to see the historic Big Boy #4014 locomotive. It is on a ten-state tour. It is touted as the largest steam locomotive in the world. Big Boy Locomotive is the only one of the 25 built that is operational. Writing an article for Senior News & Times for Illinois I had the chance to speak with train personnel and local community leaders. Plus, I got to see the Big Boy locomotive up close and personal!

Thank You’s

Kelli Dozier hooked me up with the wonderful Joe Gasparich. Joe served as the Public Information Officer for Nokomis during this one-of-a-kind event. Besides being the PIO, Joe is also a big train enthusiast. I learned that Joe is also an author. I just ordered his book Trial and Commitment. Joe provided a chance for me, along with other media to meet with Nokomis Mayor Dylan Goldsmith. We also met Robin Tysver the Union Pacific (UP) spokesperson for Big Boy, and Ed Dickens, the Senior manager-Union Pacific Heritage Operations and Big Boy #4014 engineer.

Jane Aumann, friend and co-author (on Tucker’s Surprise, The Christmas Tractor, Huber a Tractor Story, and Little Green) allowed me to park in her driveway. This was away from the crowd. Jane even offered me sanctuary in her home if needed. Thank you, Kelli, Joe, and Jane!

Big Boy 4014 Locomotive

The train is huge! It rolled into Nokomis around 3:00 p.m. There was a large crowd waiting to meet it. I spoke with people from Hillsboro, Raymond, and several nearby towns. We all crowded in the Nokomis Dairy Queen to grab something to eat. This had to be the largest crowd DQ has had in years!

While waiting, I ran into friends Carl Davis, Lloyd Fraase, Russell and Olive Mayes, Sandy Kessinger and more! Like Sandy said, “This was a once in a lifetime event.”

You could see the smoke long before you could see the train. A loud horn announced Big Boy’s arrival.

Some of the stats on this historic train. According to the Big Boy 4014 website, “Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were “hinged,” or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4-wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of “pilot” wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive.”

Big Boy retired from active service in July of 1959, and restoration was completed in 2019.

Nokomis and more

Big Boy after retirement is now a goodwill ambassador and history in motion. The tour now underway covers ten states, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas (crossing briefly back into Missouri at Kansas City, Mo.), and Colorado. There were four stops in Illinois, and Nokomis was one of them.

Keith and I were thrilled to be able to say, “We were there”.

Did you go? Tell me about your experience! Be sure to check out my article in the upcoming issue of Senior News!