Big Boy No. 4014 heads west out of Cheyenne on Thursday evening on a test run into Colorado. Jim Wrinn CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Union Pacific is ready to roll Big Boy No. 4014 west from Cheyenne on Saturday morning, according to the latest email update from the Union Pacific Steam Club. “If you don’t already […]
Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 moved under its own power for the first time on Wednesday night, backing out of the Cheyenne shop. A test run could come today. Michael Pannell CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Big Boy is stretching his legs. On Wednesday night, Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 backed out of the Back Shop […]
OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific is simplifying its intermodal terminal network to improve service in Chicago, which will result in idling the Global III terminal in Rochelle, Ill., along with the Canal Street Container Depot. UP currently operates six intermodal facilities in and around the Railroad Capital. “Many of our ramps handle a mix of […]
OAK CREEK, Wis. — With Precision Scheduled Railroading in effect at Union Pacific, longer trains have become more frequent across its system. This loaded coal train is one such example. Loaded as two trains at North Antelope mine in Wyoming, Union Pacific consolidated both trains at South Morrill, Neb., for the trip to Oak Creek, […]
Big Boy No. 4004 will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to noon on April 27. Trains: Jim Wrinn CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Cheyenne’s other Big Boy is accepting visitors for a brief time Saturday. For those who planned to watch Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 go west Saturday to Ogden, Utah, a trip […]
Big Boy No. 4014, shown in November 2013 when the engine was removed from the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, will leave Cheyenne, May 4. Trains: Jim Wrinn CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The consist of the Union Pacific steam special leaving Cheyenne May 4 and heading for Ogden, Utah, and the 150th anniversary of the first transcontinental […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Investigators and railroad officials are looking into the cause of a derailment and tank car fire early Wednesday morning in Fort Worth. Union Pacific representative Kristen South tells Trains that about 25 tank cars hauling ethanol derailed near Echo Lake close to 12:30 a.m. The trains’ crew was not injured and […]
No. 844 will join No. 4014, shown at Pomona, Calif., in 2013, on its inaugural run. Trains: Jim Wrinn CHEYENNE, Wyo. — When Union Pacific’s westbound steam doubleheader leaves Cheyenne on May 4 in the inaugural run of Big Boy No. 4014, the 4-8-8-4 will lead 4-8-4 No. 844, a UP spokeswoman tells Trains News […]
Chinese workers load rail onto a tracklaying car from the piles left by the morning’s supply train. Sixteen rails, a keg of spikes, a keg of nuts and bolts, and 32 splice bars, along with the crew made the load. Horses to pull the car stand ready. The location is Granite Point, Nev., in late […]
Grading on the Central Pacific was done by hand, relying primarily on Chinese using picks, shovels, and horse-drawn dump carts, though black powder was freely used to break hard soil and move rocks aside. This scene is the 170-foot deep excavation at Prospect Hill, Calif. It dates from summer 1866, when more than a thousand […]
Notable U.S. and Canadian railroad completions Trains: Rick Johnson Promontory Summit, Utah, may have hosted North America’s most famous final-spike ceremony, but the event on May 10, 1869, was not unique. Not all railroads had a completion “moment:” the New York Central is an example of a railroad formed through a series of mergers and […]
Railroad spike diagram Rick Johnson SPIKE dimensions are precise and have been set by such groups as the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association for decades. Spikes are made of relatively low-carbon steel, which is softer than the steel used in rail and spike mauls. This is important because when a spike is driven, it […]
