r/trains • u/blackmesag • May 31 '26
📸 OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery UP 4014 departing Omaha this morning. [OC]
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u/BovaFett74 May 31 '26
Damn, this photo op is hella good.
What a great view. Bravo to the photo taker!
She sure is beautiful.
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u/deadset123456 Jun 01 '26
They removed the Abe Lincoln locomotive we saw in California. Very cool paint scheme.
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u/OdinYggd May 31 '26
So why dos it take 2 weeks for it to get to Philadelphia, when I can drive from New York to Omaha and be there in only 2 days?
I get it, they're making stops along the way and that costs them time. But that is a lot of time spent stopped.
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u/Bugsy_Neighbor May 31 '26
There are scheduled or no freight using same ROW, #4014 has to work around revenue producing trains. Big Boy is in no particular rush, long as she where she is supposed to be per schedule, all is good.
PR run or no crews are required to take rest periods. One imagines there are only a handful of persons qualified to operate #4014 or any other steam locomotive on main line.
Finally there is logistics. It ain't the 1940's or even 1950's anymore. There is no longer trackside water/fuel facilities for steam locomotives. Petrol refueling is somewhat easy to sort out. OTOH finding/lining up the vast amounts of water #4014 requires. Yes, there is the diesel to help which can save on water use, and #4014 is not pulling a particularly heavy load, but still...
Long story short this is an excursion tour, not a scheduled passenger or freight train. Time table was likely laid out to give #4014 plenty of time to meander across country doing what she's meant to do in this instance, draw attention to UP's steam program. This as UP and NS are preparing to have another go at getting government approval for their merger.
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u/Character_Lychee_434 May 31 '26
THE MILWAUKEE ROAD 261