Marshall County Railroad Historical Society: November 2019

Railfans

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a "railfan" as one whose hobby is railroads or model railroads, or a railroad enthusiast. This definition fits Ed Hoover, especially when it comes to steam locomotives and the Union Pacific Big Boys in particular.

Ed is a railfan from Wamego, Kansas. He spent a fair amount of time over the summer and fall keeping up with the news and following live videos of Big Boy 4014 on Facebook. As an indication of his love for the Big Boy steam locomotive, he is a proud owner of a model railroad "O scale" Lionel Big Boy locomotive. Pictured is a Lionel "O Scale" locomotive similar to Ed's that is 32 inches long.

Lionel O scale Big Boy

On Wednesday, November 13, Ed visited West Elementary School in Wamego. He was invited by third grade teacher Ms. Haynes and gave a presentation to the 3rd & 4th grade students on Wamego's connection with railroads from 1866 to the present and shared information on Big Boy 4014 operation and its history. Of course Ed had his O scale model to demonstrate with. Ed gave Ms. Haynes' 3rd grade class one of two 3' by 5' flags that he had a graphic artist design for him. Big Boy 4014 would be passing through Wamego on the Morning of November 20 but would not stop in Wamego.

Ed Hoover with is Buda Velocipede in front of UP 844

On Tuesday, November 19, Ed travelled to Topeka in hope of not only seeing Big Boy 4014 but also visiting with Ed Dickens, the Senior Manager of Union Pacific Heritage Operations and engineer for Big Boy 4014. Ed Hoover had met Ed Dickens in Marysville when UP 844 stopped there in October of 2016. Ed Dickens had allowed Ed Hoover to place his Buda velocipede on the UP rails in front of 844 and took his picture for him. Ed's visit to Topeka was a disappointment, not because of 4014 itself but because there was a huge crowd that caused 4014 to stop short of the planned depot location where Ed was. As a token of his appreciation for the 844 experience, Ed Hoover had ordered an Adlake lantern monogrammed with Ed Dicken's name and UPRR 4014. He had hoped to personally give it to Mr. Dickens but was unable to meet up with him and left it for a crew member. The day wasn't a total loss as Ed Hoover had taken his German street organ with him. Ed said "for some reason they kept requesting that I play I've been working on the Railroad". He said the kids loved it.

Custom Monogrammed Lantern for Ed Dickens

Notice the UP 4014 Number Shield - a full scale replica.

On Wednesday, November 20, Ed was ready to see 4014 in Manhattan. In Ed's words "What a difference a day makes". When the crowd started showing up Ed became a crowd control person helping to keep spectators off of the tracks and also answering spectator's questions on Big Boy. Before 4014 left Manhattan, Ed was finally able to meet with Ed Dickens. Mr. Dickens thanked Ed for the lantern and asked about his UP 4014 flag. The 4014 crew had seen one in Topeka, saw one as they passed through Wamego and now saw Ed Hoover with one in Manhattan. They wondered how many of these flags existed. Since Mr. Dickens like the flag so much, Ed gave him the one he had brought to Manhattan. Below is a link to an article that appeared in the Manhattan Mercury.

Two crew members, Ed Hoover and Ed Dicken

Manhattan Mercury article on Big Boy 4014

Several other members of the Marshall County Railroad Historical Society were in attendance in Manhattan. Dave Crawford and Jim Turner were at the Big Blue River Bridge along Hwy 24 and Larry Moon and George Lookhart were at the South Manhattan Ave location where Big Boy 4014 stopped. At the end of this blog you can find links to photo albums from these people.

Big Boy History and other facts

There were 25 Big Boy steam locomotives manufactured between 1941 and 1944. The wheel configuration is 4-8-8-4, meaning there are two axles with 4 wheels in the leading trucks, two sets of 4 axles and 8 wheels each making up the drive wheels, and 2 axles with 4 wheels making up the trailing trucks. They were designed to haul freight over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah and Green River, Wyoming. They replaced the Challenger 4-6-6-4 type wheel configuration. In the late 1940's the Big Boys were reassigned to Cheyenne, Wyoming to haul freight over Sherman Hill to Laramie, Wyoming.

The story goes that the Big Boy name originated when an unknown worker scribed in chalk the words "Big Boy" on the front of 4000 when it was under construction. Revenue service for the Big Boys ended in 1959. Only 8 Big Boys survive today, numbers 4004, 4005, 4006, 4012, 4014, 4017, 4018, and 4023. Big Boy 4023 is on display at Kenefick Park in Omaha, Nebraska. 4023 is the only Big Boy known to have been moved on a highway.

Big Boy 4014 was determined to be the best candidate for restoration and was purchased by UP from the Fairplex RailGiant Train Museum in Pomona, California. It was taken to the locomotive shops in Cheyenne, Wyoming for restoration and returned to service in May 2019. Big Boys are about 133 feet long and weigh in at about 1.2 million pounds. Big Boy 4014 is the largest, heaviest and most powerful operating steam locomotive in the world. In its 18 years of revenue service, Big Boy 4014 had traveled over a million miles.

There have only been two Big Boy steam locomotives to pass through Marysville, Kansas. Big Boy 4006 passed through Marysville in January of 1961 headed for display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. Big Boy 4018 passed through in October of 1964 headed for a museum in Fair Park, located in Dallas, Texas. 4018 was later moved to Frisco, Texas. Neither of these two Big Boys was operating under steam power as both were being towed to their new locations.