Digging In
If you've followed my photostream for a while you may have noticed there isn't much steam on here. Thanks to the antics that surround mainline excursions I swore them off about 20 years ago. I have a list of reasons to pass on them about as long as my arm. I knew the Big Boy revival would be the hot topic this year and didn't make any plans around it. I was content to follow the action through the impressive imagery by those I follow here on Flickr.
When the 4014 got closer to the Twin Cities I started comparing the schedule of the train to my own. I would be in the same city on the same day as the Big Boy at least twice. With billions of pixels burned on the 4014 this summer I had doubts about the need for me take pictures of the trip. A bigger consideration was simply seeing this beast in action with my own eyes. Last Friday the 4014 headed for Duluth but oppressive heat and poor sun angles dissuaded me from being there.
Monday had a very nice forecast and I brought the camera along to work with plans to nab them coming through Northeast Minneapolis on their way back from Duluth. I tracked the progress of the excursion through the day. There is frequent bus service out of downtown so I planned to duck out when they got close to the Junction at Coon Creek and intercept them for a quick photo. I also kept an eye on ATCS for an indication of the line-up and reroute for the extra when I reached the Staples Sub.
It looked like they made excellent time out of Superior and each time they stopped I hoped for a little more delay for a little better afternoon light. Maybe I got lulled by all the updates, I watched them close in on Coon Creek, still no lineup onto the Staples. Hmmm, they aren't stopped, a couple minutes later and a check of the live map on UPRR, they were on the Staples already, oh no! I bolted out the door and caught the next bus, a very crowded and very slowwww bus. Well I got to my spot but missed the 4014 by just a couple minutes. I cut it too close and could do nothing but catch a bus back to the office (almost empty and twice as fast of course).
Frustrated, I now had a quandry, do I give up on seeing the Big Boy or do I make one more try at it since it was still in St. Paul for the night? The forecast for Tuesday was just as nice and if I altered my commute a bit I could be there to see the departure on my way into work. This alternate route put me on the always exciting I-94 where my car sustained a healthy rock chip crater to my windshield. This casual visit with the Big Boy was not proving to be easy. The bus deposited me right on time near the foot of the Kellogg Blvd bridge. There was a handful of folks waiting on the bridge (much larger crowds along a fence closer to the train). The train started the trip right on the advertised at 8 a.m. but stopped to fuel up before departing the depot. Within a half hour the fueling was done and 4014 had resumed the trip to Altoona.
Watching the 4-8-8-4 swing out of the depot and climb the hill was very impressive and I'm glad I was there to see it at work. Now I'll go back to watching its progress near and far through the lenses of others. A short walk from this spot put me on a light rail train in front of Union Depot for the rest of my trip to work.
The careful negotiation of this curve meant plenty of time for a few photo angles and the opportunity to take in the powerful sounds of this gargantuan of the rails. July 23, 2019.
Digging In
If you've followed my photostream for a while you may have noticed there isn't much steam on here. Thanks to the antics that surround mainline excursions I swore them off about 20 years ago. I have a list of reasons to pass on them about as long as my arm. I knew the Big Boy revival would be the hot topic this year and didn't make any plans around it. I was content to follow the action through the impressive imagery by those I follow here on Flickr.
When the 4014 got closer to the Twin Cities I started comparing the schedule of the train to my own. I would be in the same city on the same day as the Big Boy at least twice. With billions of pixels burned on the 4014 this summer I had doubts about the need for me take pictures of the trip. A bigger consideration was simply seeing this beast in action with my own eyes. Last Friday the 4014 headed for Duluth but oppressive heat and poor sun angles dissuaded me from being there.
Monday had a very nice forecast and I brought the camera along to work with plans to nab them coming through Northeast Minneapolis on their way back from Duluth. I tracked the progress of the excursion through the day. There is frequent bus service out of downtown so I planned to duck out when they got close to the Junction at Coon Creek and intercept them for a quick photo. I also kept an eye on ATCS for an indication of the line-up and reroute for the extra when I reached the Staples Sub.
It looked like they made excellent time out of Superior and each time they stopped I hoped for a little more delay for a little better afternoon light. Maybe I got lulled by all the updates, I watched them close in on Coon Creek, still no lineup onto the Staples. Hmmm, they aren't stopped, a couple minutes later and a check of the live map on UPRR, they were on the Staples already, oh no! I bolted out the door and caught the next bus, a very crowded and very slowwww bus. Well I got to my spot but missed the 4014 by just a couple minutes. I cut it too close and could do nothing but catch a bus back to the office (almost empty and twice as fast of course).
Frustrated, I now had a quandry, do I give up on seeing the Big Boy or do I make one more try at it since it was still in St. Paul for the night? The forecast for Tuesday was just as nice and if I altered my commute a bit I could be there to see the departure on my way into work. This alternate route put me on the always exciting I-94 where my car sustained a healthy rock chip crater to my windshield. This casual visit with the Big Boy was not proving to be easy. The bus deposited me right on time near the foot of the Kellogg Blvd bridge. There was a handful of folks waiting on the bridge (much larger crowds along a fence closer to the train). The train started the trip right on the advertised at 8 a.m. but stopped to fuel up before departing the depot. Within a half hour the fueling was done and 4014 had resumed the trip to Altoona.
Watching the 4-8-8-4 swing out of the depot and climb the hill was very impressive and I'm glad I was there to see it at work. Now I'll go back to watching its progress near and far through the lenses of others. A short walk from this spot put me on a light rail train in front of Union Depot for the rest of my trip to work.
The careful negotiation of this curve meant plenty of time for a few photo angles and the opportunity to take in the powerful sounds of this gargantuan of the rails. July 23, 2019.