Canadian National Illinois Central “Death Star” heritage unit 3008, passes the searchlight and dwarf signals as it heads north on the Union Pacific Chester Subdivision with an empty tank train on December 2nd, 2020 at Scott City, Missouri.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 240mm, f/5.3, 1/1000, ISO 200.
Canadian National Illinois Central “Death Star” heritage unit 3008, rounds the curve under the signal bridge just past McClure, Illinois as it heads north on the Union Pacific Chester Subdivision with an empty tank train on December 2nd, 2020
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200.
On December 2nd, 2020 Canadian National (CN) Illinois Central Heritage Unit 3008 sits at CP Huston with empty oil train; ONUCS-01, as it waits for a signal to proceed north on the UP Mount Vernon Subdivision, at Murphysboro, IL.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 500.
Today fellow railfan Cooper Smith and I along with a lot more were blessed because as of the night before this unit was supposed to pass through our area in the darkness of night! Fortunately we got word from fellow railfan Terry Redeker down the line that the train got recrewed earlier than planned and it would be to us in daylight!
Our first stop on this chase on December 2nd, 2020 we caught Canadian National (CN) Illinois Central Heritage Unit 3008 as it lead empty oil train; ONUCS-01 north on the Union Pacific’s Chester Subdivision, past the Martin Grain Company grain silos at Dexter, Missouri headed for Superior, WI.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
Lunch Break!
Union Pacific 6493 and 7188 pull away from their Paducah and Louisville Railway PRX2 loaded coal train just outside Princeton, Kentucky after the crew received permission to stop for lunch from PAL dispatch on October 17, 2020.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
July 15, 2020 – Union Pacific 7074 leads UP IDLC as it approaches the Green Street overpass at Mount Vernon, Illinois as it makes its way north on the Mt. Vernon Subdivision. Fellow railfan, Cooper Smith and I spent the day railfanning in southern Illinois today and while we got a few nice shots and had a great time, the trains just didn’t cooperate!
We went from Kentucky to Bruceton, Illinois to catch UP and CN action through the diamond there, as well at Christopher and Du Quoin. However, after spending the whole day trackside we pretty much caught one train we each like at each location. Turns out after the one train on the busy UP line we caught at Mt. Vernon, that line was shut down the rest of the day till 9pm. We had no clue it was scheduled, but that’s the way trains roll sometime!
The other lines we railfanned were just having a very slow day, however we did catch at least something everywhere we stopped… eventually! The last stop of the day was at Anna, IL where we caught CN A431 being led by CN 2460 (a “Blue Devil” unit) as the very last light of a stormy evening stole the light from the day.
I’ll be posting a few others from the trip along with a couple videos for everyone’s viewing pleasure!
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 370mm, f/6, 1/640, ISO 320.
May 5, 1989 – The crew from a eastbound Santa Fe freight prepare to do a roll-by inspection on a passenger train being led by Union X8444 at Blue Cut in southern California’s Cajon Pass on their way west to the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Los Angeles Union Station, with E-unit 951 trailing. This was the first Southern California appearance of a Union Pacific steam locomotive since 1956.
October 20, 2008 – The late evening light rakes across the base of Mormon Rocks as UP 5958 and 6266 (ex-Southern Pacific Unit) lead a west bound freight down the Cajon Pass in southern California.
Local legend has it that the rocks were named for the Mormon pioneers who camped here after their descent from the pass ridgeline. Another legend calls the rocks the ‘Chanting Rocks,’ as when the wind would blow across the portholes in the rocks it was said the sound made was similar to a low chanting or singing.
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – The conductor on a Union Pacific freight walks past the American Flag on his engine in the yard at Salem, Illinois.
According to the Union Pacific Website: When we added the flag to our locomotives more than a decade ago – at the suggestion of an employee after 9/11 – we followed the tradition of having the Union (the blue field of stars) lead the way, such that on the right-hand side of the vehicle (“passenger side”), the flag would appear reversed.
Further, the flag was painted to convey the motion of forward movement as if it were billowing with the speed of the locomotive. Having the Union forward on both sides is the overwhelming choice anytime the flag is portrayed on a transport vehicle, from NASA space shuttles to Air Force One.
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – Union Pacific 3961 pulls to a stop at the UP yard office in Salem, Illinois, with its intermodal train, on the Salem Subdivision as a loaded manifest with ex-Conrail 8339 leading waits for it to pass.
June 21, 2006 – Blast From The Past – It’s 9:45 in the morning as Union Pacific 2365 struggles past CP Canyon as it heads east up the Cajon Pass in southern California with a loaded manifest.The pass is one of the busiest rail areas in southern California.
February 26, 2020 – Union Pacific 5883 rounds the curve coming into Hanson, Ky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision with a empty coke train.
![November 13, 2019 - Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" locomotive releases built up steam as it sits at the station in Prescott, Arkansas, waiting for time to depart north on UP's Little Rock Subdivision during UP's Great Race Across the Southwest steam tour.
According to Wikipedia: Union Pacific 4014 is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 4014 is the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence.
The locomotive operated in revenue service until 1959. It was donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in late 1961 and thereafter displayed in Fairplex in Pomona, California. In 2013, Union Pacific re-acquired the locomotive and launched a restoration project at their Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[citation needed] In 2019, No. 4014 was operated for the first time after it sat dormant for almost six decades. Part of Union Pacific's heritage fleet, it now operates in excursion service, in addition to hauling revenue freight during ferry moves.](https://www.jimpearsonphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/WEB-11.13.19-UP-4014-Lets-off-Steam-at-Prescott-AR.jpg)
November 13, 2019 – Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” locomotive releases built up steam as it sits at the station in Prescott, Arkansas, waiting for time to depart north on UP’s Little Rock Subdivision during UP’s Great Race Across the Southwest steam tour.
According to Wikipedia: Union Pacific 4014 is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 4014 is the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence.
The locomotive operated in revenue service until 1959. It was donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in late 1961 and thereafter displayed in Fairplex in Pomona, California. In 2013, Union Pacific re-acquired the locomotive and launched a restoration project at their Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[citation needed] In 2019, No. 4014 was operated for the first time after it sat dormant for almost six decades. Part of Union Pacific’s heritage fleet, it now operates in excursion service, in addition to hauling revenue freight during ferry moves.
November 12, 2019 – Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” 4014 puts out a huge plume of steam in the cold November air as it departs Hope, Arkansas and heads north on Union Pacific’s Little Rock Subdivision on its way to Prescott, AR where it tied down for the night.
According to Wikipedia: The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service until 1959.
The 25 Big Boy locomotives were built to haul freight over the Wasatch mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming. In the late 1940s, they were reassigned to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they hauled freight over Sherman Hill to Laramie, Wyoming. They were the only locomotives to use a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement: four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.
Eight Big Boys survive, most on static display at museums across the country. This one, No. 4014, was re-acquired by Union Pacific and restored to operating condition in 2019, regaining the title as the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive in the world.
November 12, 2019 – Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” 4014 puts out a huge plume of steam as it rounds a curve in the cold November air at Hope, Arkansas as it heads north on the UP’s Little Rock Subdivision on its way to Prescott, AR where it tied down for the night during Union Pacific’s Great Race Across the Southwest tour.
November 13, 2019 – Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy pulls it’s train north out of Union Station at Little Rock, Arkansas on a cold fall afternoon.
Union Pacific billed this move as The Great Race Across the Southwest as the train is making a circle around the southwest over a six week or so period hitting Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
According to Wikipedia: Little Rock Union Station, also known as Mopac Station, is a train station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system.
The present Little Rock station opened August 1, 1921, having been constructed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad after a fire destroyed the prior station on April 7, 1920. The structure used existing foundations, some exterior walls and the clock tower of the previous station, which had survived the fire. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “Mopac Station”.
Although known as Union Station, this particular structure was used by only a single railroad, Missouri Pacific. Prior structures on this site were served by two additional railroads, Memphis & Little Rock (1874–1893) and St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (known as the ‘Cotton Belt’). (ca. 1892–1910). The present (1921) structure was predated by a large wooden structure erected in 1874, and a brick station that opened in 1909 and burned in 1920.
The main entrance to Union Station was located on the Markham Street level, and waiting rooms, ticket office and a restaurant were located on this level. The upper two floors housed the railroad’s train dispatchers and offices of the freight and passenger departments, American Refrigerator Transit, and the Pullman Company, which staffed the sleeping and dining cars of passenger trains. The basement (track level) held extensive mail and Railway Express Agency facilities, a baggage room, and a small dining car commissary. Passenger access to the tracks was via an open air midway extending from the north side of the building, with stairways and three umbrella sheds extending in each direction at track level. This midway structure was original to the 1908 station, having survived the 1920 fire.
Missouri Pacific passenger service to Little Rock ended just after midnight on May 1, 1971. The remaining umbrella sheds and midway were dismantled in October 1973, less than six months before Amtrak began a new passenger route through Little Rock. Amtrak continued to use the original waiting room and ticket office area until July 1992. The waiting area and ticket offices were relocated to a newly renovated area of the station located at track level.
November 13, 2019 – A crewmember on Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 keeps a watchful eye on ground operations as the train works to get ready to depart from Prescott, Arkansas on its way to Little Rock on UP’s Little Rock Subdivision.
November 13, 2019 – A BNSF tank Train heads through Union Pacific’s Locust Street Yard at Little Rock, Arkansas, with BNSF 8770 leading the way, as it approaches the Main Street Overpass.
November 12, 2019 – Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” 4014 puts out a huge plume of steam in the cold November air at Hope, Arkansas as it heads north on the UP’s Little Rock Subdivision on its way to Prescott, AR where it will tie down for the night.
According to Wikipedia: The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service until 1959.
The 25 Big Boy locomotives were built to haul freight over the Wasatch mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming. In the late 1940s, they were reassigned to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they hauled freight over Sherman Hill to Laramie, Wyoming. They were the only locomotives to use a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement: four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.
Eight Big Boys survive, most on static display at museums across the country. This one, No. 4014, was re-acquired by Union Pacific and restored to operating condition in 2019, regaining the title as the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive in the world.
November 12, 2019 – BNSF 8770 snakes a tank train past Union Station in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas as it heads north on UP’s Little Rock Subdivision.
November 13, 2019 – Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014, pulls along the siding, as it heads into downtown Arkadelphia, Arkansas after waiting for a UP intermodal to pass it on the Little Rock Subdivision.