Union Pacific 4014...the "Big Boy" quietly rests after traveling across the state of Minnesota, reaching its northernmost destination of Duluth.
While there was no formal photoshoot of the Big Boy at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, the fine personnel of UP & LSRM rigged up lights and made for a night scene unlike any other.
Big steam is no stranger to the area, as DM&IR Yellowstone locomotives once ruled the rails here. Though there would be no official way to compare the 4014 to LSRM's 227, one could pretend, with some imagination, the big Missabe steam was back.
This was part of Union Pacific's "Great Race Across the Midwest" tour it was operating, in part to show off 4014 but also in part to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the golden spike. UP 4014's most previous stop was at Union Depot in St. Paul, MN, it would overnight there again after departing Duluth, but not after a couple of days of steam, which 4014 shared with DM&IR 332, LSRM's operational 2-8-0.
Though the 4014 did not operate over any of LSRM's trackage, the tough Missabe rail was built to handle the largest of steam giants.
A railfan thank you to UP & LSRM for making this moment a reality.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
