Burlington 4-6-4 4000 was built in 1930 as No. 3002, a member of class S-4, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. This class had 78-inch drivers, boiler pressure of 250 pounds per square inch, and 25x28-inch cylinders. These engines weighed around 390,000 pounds and produced 47,700 pounds of tractive effort. With the advent of the Burlington Route's famous Zephyr diesel streamliners, some steam power was needed to protect their schedules when the regular engines were out of service. In 1937, the CB&Q's West Burlington Shops rebuilt 3002 with a shroud emulating the "shovel-nose" style of the early stainless-steel streamlined diesels. CB&Q 3002 was renumbered to No. 4000 and christened Aeolus after the ancient god of winds, in keeping with the Zephyr motif. Because of the similarity between Aeolus and the name Alice, No. 4000 soon acquired the nickname "Big Alice the Goon" after a Popeye cartoon character. She lost her shroud to the World War II steel drive, but the nickname held. Today "Alice" is displayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin. This trip was sponsored by the Illini Railroad Club on Labor Day weekend, 1956. The excursion featured CB&Q 4000 and CB&Q 637, and the picture was taken at Aurora, Illinois.
