Union Pacific 4014, the Big Boy heads north on UP’s Hoxie Subdivision at Jacksonville, Arkansas as part of its 2021-month long tour around the United States on August 27th, 2021!
Here engineer Ed Dickens keeps an eye on the tracks ahead as it approaches the N JP Wright Loop Road crossing, perhaps scanning for the legendary the Loop Road Monster (Bigfoot) which has been sighted in this rural area in the past, but there wasn’t any sight of him during the big boys run through the area! I guess bigfoot doesn’t like steam trains nearly as much as the throngs of railfans that chased it!
UP 4014 is an articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive that was manufactured by the American Locomotive Company. There were a total 25 of these giants built and of the eight remaining locomotives this is the only operational one.
The Big Boy was on a month-long tour around the Midwest through, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming before arriving home in Cheyenne, Wyoming on September 7th, 2021.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 210mm, f/5.3, 1/1600, ISO 280.