Tag Archives: Santa Fe

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Zooming past me and other curious railroad enthusiasts, the Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” steam locomotive (and accompanying support cars) raced westward on it’s way back to Cheyenne, Wyoming. This image was taken on September 2nd at approx. 0948 hour between Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas.

After photographing the restored beauty at Union Station, I wanted to witness this behemoth on the open road which is where he was intended to function…and for pulling freight across America’s mountains. It may be years, if ever again, he runs our way. I would call this steel wonder a ‘she’ if it were named Big Girl, but gender selection must have been by a man !

Hearing his steam whistle miles distant, seeing the approaching steam skirt and smoke rising from his boiler, the anticipation of Big Boy was over in seconds…kind of like a lot of things we experience in life. Was it worth researching a decent spot to shoot him as he approached? Was it worth hurrying to the predetermined location and hoping I didn’t miss his arrival? Was it worth feeling the rush of air hit me as he passed, similar to what I used to experience once-upon-a-time as a locomotive engineer for Santa Fe? Yes, it was worth it.

Life is made up of moments-some last only seconds while others several minutes. When we add them all together we realize that our lives comprise myriad moments. Some good, some bad and many neutral, but they all count. A worthwhile goal, at least in my opinion, is to make as many moments as pleasant as possible. These are the ones that put a smile on our faces and bring about happy thoughts. Life is tough, and seems to be getting tougher, so occasional moments such as watching an old steam locomotive zoom by at highway speeds is a nice distraction. This pleasing moment will not soon be forgotten.

Whether coming or going, we have many opportunities to make a positive impact upon others. When we meet with family, friends, acquaintances or strangers, we have the privilege of creating a meaningful and positive moment. My success rate at accomplishing this lofty goal falls short of what I feel should be my personal Gold Standard, but I achieve far less if I fail to try.

Freight Trains

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Back in my previous life as a locomotive engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad (now BNSF), I fell in awe of locomotives and trains in general. Although that was decades ago, I still love to hear the distant blare of air horns and feel the rumble of horsepower and wheels turning from these diesel-electric monsters. Yes, they burn fossil fuel unlike many transit trains on the east coast or in Europe, but there are three thousand miles to cover between New York and California which makes electric trains across America impractical. Besides, it is unlikely that electric locomotives can efficiently produce the horsepower needed to pull a 100 car coal or grain train. So, for now, diesel-electric is the main freight locomotive used in America, Canada and Mexico.

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I had a difficult time coming up with a title for this post as there are so many good songs about trains and railroads that I wanted to use. Since I couldn’t make up my mind, I thought of Iron Horses as this was the name given by our Native American ancestors when they first encountered the steam locomotive. However, the rail-line linking of the east and west in 1869 had devastating consequences for their way of life so I didn’t want to celebrate a cool name with such negativity. The past cannot be changed, but there is no denying that the trans-continental movement of freight plays a huge role in almost every segment of our lives.

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In the first two photographs, the westbound grain train is waiting for a mixed-freight eastbound train to pass so that it can proceed. There was track work being done east of here so trains had to share one track for a short distance. This double track runs from Chicago to San Bernadino and handles millions of tons of freight each year.

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Cabooses were replaced by signalling devices which feed the engineer with vital information about the amount of compressed air in the brake lines at the end of the train. As the eastbound leaves us behind, the westbound starts his movement. Destination unknown, but it will be up to speed within a few miles.

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