Wednesday 11/6/2019 - UP 4014 Arrives in Houston
In honor of the transcontinental railroad's 150th anniversary, the Union Pacific decided to restore Big Boy 4014 to service to celebrate. The 4014 is a a 4-8-8-4 'Big Boy' type of locomotive and in some respects, the largest ever built. She was built for the UP in 1941 and retired to the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California in 1961. The restoration started in 2013 and concluded just in time to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad in 2019. The 4014's first trip was out to Utah to join in on the festivities. In the fall of 2019, the Union Pacific took the 4014 out again to the RailGiant's museum in California to thank them for letting the engine go to be restored and in doing so toured a large part of the southwestern US. The Union Pacific called the tour 'Great Race Across the Southwest'. On the return trip, to the 4014's home in Cheyenne Wyoming, the 4014 took the sunset route from California, through Texas before cutting north back to Wyoming.
The 4014 ran from San Antonio to Houston on Wednesday, November 6th, taking it into the Houston area through Sugar Land, Tx. This was all too close to my office not to go see it come into town so I got off of work a little early and headed down HW 90 through Sugar Land to the railroad's crossing of the Brazos River near Richmond. There, a large contingent of us gathered on the east bank to watch the big engine go across the massive bridge. The UP's website allowed us to follow the locomotives's progress while we waited but the engine stopped at the railroad museum in Richmond, less than a mile away. Most of us stood out there for over an hour and a half with the 4014 finally rolling by us at 4:15pm to a very back lit scene but oh what a sight to see!
I contemplated giving chase out of the area but the traffic was thick and the 4014 made good time. I didn't have a chance getting to secondary locations further into the city. With that and diminishing light, ended the first taste of 4014.
The 4014 ran from San Antonio to Houston on Wednesday, November 6th, taking it into the Houston area through Sugar Land, Tx. This was all too close to my office not to go see it come into town so I got off of work a little early and headed down HW 90 through Sugar Land to the railroad's crossing of the Brazos River near Richmond. There, a large contingent of us gathered on the east bank to watch the big engine go across the massive bridge. The UP's website allowed us to follow the locomotives's progress while we waited but the engine stopped at the railroad museum in Richmond, less than a mile away. Most of us stood out there for over an hour and a half with the 4014 finally rolling by us at 4:15pm to a very back lit scene but oh what a sight to see!
I contemplated giving chase out of the area but the traffic was thick and the 4014 made good time. I didn't have a chance getting to secondary locations further into the city. With that and diminishing light, ended the first taste of 4014.
Friday 11/8/2019 - UP 4014 Travels from Houston to Bryan / College Station, Tx
Thursday 11/7/19 found the 4014 on display at the Amtrak station in downtown Houston. I didn't make an attempt to go down there but reports are that the public came out in masses.
On Friday 11/8/19, the 4014 was scheduled to make its way northwest to Bryan / College Station, Tx. The 4014 had picked up a different diesel locomotive for this portion of the trip, UP 4141. UP 4141 was a specially painted SD70ACe locomotive in honor for the 41st President, George H Bush. With his Presidential Library being on the campus of Texas A&M in College Station, the 4014 was to take the UP 4141 to College Station to formally present it to the library.
Emily was with me on this day as we planned to chase the 4014 north and then head to my parents in Taylor, Tx for the evening. We swung by the Amtrak station in Houston first thing in the morning (around 9:00am) to find a pretty good crowd there and the UP 4014 and UP 4141 preparing to head out. We quickly decided to go ahead and go north to Spring, Tx to see the train enter there. Our plan was to leave as the 4014 arrived to be able to get into the country and see 4014 race by without all of the crowds. As we waited in old town Spring, the crowds continued to grow! We ran into Michele Rose, wife to the legendary Jason Rose, who we would be meeting up with later. The 4014 arrived in Spring to a sea of people at 11:20am and ultimately stopped short of where we were. Nervous about the getting out before the crowds, we decided to head out, even though on the walk to the truck, the 4014 started to inch forward.
Emily and I got out of Spring and headed up 1774 to HW 105 in Plantersville, seeing people setting up trackside all along the way. We then found Jason Rose and his son Noah at MP 39.59 on UP's Navasota Sub, a fantastic spot to sit and watch the 4014 run by. We only got to the spot about 20 minutes before the 4014 did at 11:40am. A decent little crowd of around 50 gathered at the spot and we all got to watch the big engine storm by on the cool November day.
The 4014 stopped for a 'whistle stop' in Navasota and allowed us to follow Jason and Noah to the little community of Millican, Tx at MP 58.73 on the Navasota Sub. We set up at a spot on a road crossing with some thick weeds in front of us. As our phones told us the 4014 was again moving from Navasota, a group braved the weeds to get trackside in front of us. The 4014 still didn't disappoint and you get to see just how big she is compared to the group of on lookers. She rolled through Millican at 2:20pm.
Jason and Noah turned back to their home in Spring and Emily and I decided to venture into College Station (our college hometown) to see what the 4014 was going to do there. The traffic into the city on Wellborn Rd, which parallels the rail line was nuts but we arrived to find the UP 4014 with the Presidential 4141 stopped on the north side of the Texas A&M campus in front of a little ceremonial area. After waiting behind the barricades in the cold for a while, the 4014 backed its train up and positioned itself in front of the general public and allowed us to get a good look of the impressive locomotive. The crowd was thick here has well but the open field aspect allowed good views all around. We soaked up the big locomotive but then needed to head out. It was already 4:30pm and we had an hour and a half to my parents.
On Friday 11/8/19, the 4014 was scheduled to make its way northwest to Bryan / College Station, Tx. The 4014 had picked up a different diesel locomotive for this portion of the trip, UP 4141. UP 4141 was a specially painted SD70ACe locomotive in honor for the 41st President, George H Bush. With his Presidential Library being on the campus of Texas A&M in College Station, the 4014 was to take the UP 4141 to College Station to formally present it to the library.
Emily was with me on this day as we planned to chase the 4014 north and then head to my parents in Taylor, Tx for the evening. We swung by the Amtrak station in Houston first thing in the morning (around 9:00am) to find a pretty good crowd there and the UP 4014 and UP 4141 preparing to head out. We quickly decided to go ahead and go north to Spring, Tx to see the train enter there. Our plan was to leave as the 4014 arrived to be able to get into the country and see 4014 race by without all of the crowds. As we waited in old town Spring, the crowds continued to grow! We ran into Michele Rose, wife to the legendary Jason Rose, who we would be meeting up with later. The 4014 arrived in Spring to a sea of people at 11:20am and ultimately stopped short of where we were. Nervous about the getting out before the crowds, we decided to head out, even though on the walk to the truck, the 4014 started to inch forward.
Emily and I got out of Spring and headed up 1774 to HW 105 in Plantersville, seeing people setting up trackside all along the way. We then found Jason Rose and his son Noah at MP 39.59 on UP's Navasota Sub, a fantastic spot to sit and watch the 4014 run by. We only got to the spot about 20 minutes before the 4014 did at 11:40am. A decent little crowd of around 50 gathered at the spot and we all got to watch the big engine storm by on the cool November day.
The 4014 stopped for a 'whistle stop' in Navasota and allowed us to follow Jason and Noah to the little community of Millican, Tx at MP 58.73 on the Navasota Sub. We set up at a spot on a road crossing with some thick weeds in front of us. As our phones told us the 4014 was again moving from Navasota, a group braved the weeds to get trackside in front of us. The 4014 still didn't disappoint and you get to see just how big she is compared to the group of on lookers. She rolled through Millican at 2:20pm.
Jason and Noah turned back to their home in Spring and Emily and I decided to venture into College Station (our college hometown) to see what the 4014 was going to do there. The traffic into the city on Wellborn Rd, which parallels the rail line was nuts but we arrived to find the UP 4014 with the Presidential 4141 stopped on the north side of the Texas A&M campus in front of a little ceremonial area. After waiting behind the barricades in the cold for a while, the 4014 backed its train up and positioned itself in front of the general public and allowed us to get a good look of the impressive locomotive. The crowd was thick here has well but the open field aspect allowed good views all around. We soaked up the big locomotive but then needed to head out. It was already 4:30pm and we had an hour and a half to my parents.
Saturday 11/9/2019 - UP 4014 Travels from Bryan / College Station, through Hearne, and on up to Palestine, Tx
It didn't take much convincing to talk my Dad into venturing out with me on Saturday morning to the Hearne area to see the big engine on a bright but cold November morning. This was a Saturday after all and this was also the closest the 4014 would make it to the Austin, Waco and Dallas / Ft Worth areas so we expected the crowds to be big. We left Taylor fairly early and picked a nice spot near an area of the Brazos valley called Valley Junction, arriving at around 8:00am. We chose the Muse Rd Crossing at MP 6.36 on the UP Giddings Subdivision, those there were a half dozen options we could have set up at. The Big Boy arrived just after 9:00am, trailing a nice plume of steam in the cool morning area. It turned out to be a great south Texas country scene!
We then decided to venture into Hearne and brave the crowds. The 4014 came into Hearne through the main yard. She then had to reverse onto the Austin subdivision to continue onto the north east. We luckily found a spot to set up hear the crossing of the two lines, where the backup move had to occur. The crowds were crazy here so I did mostly video as the photos just had a lot of people in them. The video Emily and I took over the days was combined by Jason Rose with his and his wife Michele's footage and with the footage shot by Blake Bogs for a nice compilation of the scenes we saw of the days (see below or use this link). Jason gave me the inspiration for this website and has a report of his adventures for this day, which can be read here.
While the 4014 continued on, my Dad and I turned back home, leaving the crowds and the spectacular UP 4014 to continue on.
We then decided to venture into Hearne and brave the crowds. The 4014 came into Hearne through the main yard. She then had to reverse onto the Austin subdivision to continue onto the north east. We luckily found a spot to set up hear the crossing of the two lines, where the backup move had to occur. The crowds were crazy here so I did mostly video as the photos just had a lot of people in them. The video Emily and I took over the days was combined by Jason Rose with his and his wife Michele's footage and with the footage shot by Blake Bogs for a nice compilation of the scenes we saw of the days (see below or use this link). Jason gave me the inspiration for this website and has a report of his adventures for this day, which can be read here.
While the 4014 continued on, my Dad and I turned back home, leaving the crowds and the spectacular UP 4014 to continue on.
