Return of the Big Boy

There’s just something about sharing a small adventure with family.

Since I went to see the Big Boy last year solo, I wanted to share it with family this time and invited my son, grandson, and sons-in-law to visit it with me. As things would turn out, only my son Gerald and my grandson Austin were able to go.

But before I get going too much, what the heck is the Big Boy.

Vital Statistics
Tender Type	14-wheeled
Water Capacity	25,000 Gallons
Fuel	No 5 Oil (2019 to present) Coal 56,000 lbs. (1941-1961)
Gauge of Track	4 ft 8 1/2 inches
Cylinder	Diameter 23 3/4 inches Stroke 32 inches
Driving wheel diameter	68 Inches, for comparison, I stand 76 inches tall so it’s almost as tall as me.
Boiler	Diameter 106 9/16ths inches Pressure 300 lbs.
Firebox	Length 235 inches Width 96 3/16th inches
Wheel Base	Driving 47 Ft 3 Inches Engine 72 ft 5 1/2 inches Engine & Tender 132 ft 9 7/8 inches
Weight in Pounds	Engine 762,000 Tender 427,500 Total 1,189,599 lbs.

If you’re a railroad buff you’ve heard of it if not actually seen it. To everyone else, it’s a train.

A really awesome train!

It’s among the last of the steam powered locomotives. Most people would say the thing’s a dinosaur by today’s standards, and they’d be right. But as dinosaurs go, it’s a big one.

A brief history here. The Big Boy – Engine 4014 was one of 25 engines built for the Union pacific Railroad back in the late 30’s and early 40’s. They were built with the idea of hauling heavy freight up and through the mountains and through tight turns and steep grades.

This particular engine (4014) ran between Cheyenne, Wyoming and Ogden, Utah. In the twenty years it was in service, it racked up an impressive 1,031,205 miles. That doesn’t sound like much in an age where the farthest man-made object is twelve-plus billion miles from home, but it is an impressive distance for something earthbound. The train has traveled roughly 41 times around the world or almost two and half times to the Moon and back.

4014 and her sisters are marvels of engineering. From cowcatcher to back of the tender, it measures a whopping 133 feet. That’s half the length of a 747 airliner and nearly twice as long as a modern-day diesel locomotive. It weighs in at a whopping 1.2 million pounds.

The machine is so long that the wheel sets are articulated so the train can go around curves. That means the wheels turn with the tracks. 4014 is a 4-8-8-4 meaning four wheels up front to guide it, then eight drivers second, then another set of eight drivers in the third place, and finally, another four to support the rear of the locomotive.

A very impressive piece of engineering to be sure.

But it’s the stories people tell that makes the event. My Son Gerald was recalling when he and I rode the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad on his third birthday. We talked about the bag lunch we’d taken and how we’d sat out near the old water tower in Osier, Colorado and ate it. At the water tower the engines used in ages past to fill up with water. There was a pipe that water from the tower ran out of. The tower itself was fed by an artesian well, so this pipe was an overflow.

I’d told him, “When my dad worked for Uncle Armando and we came up to the mountains to his sheep camps in the summer, we always stopped at this tower and got a drink.” It was a tradition I remember well from my youth. My son and I then bent down and drank deeply from the water. Artesian water should taste good, and this did.

Little did I realize it would be the last time I would drink from that well and indulge in tradition.

Shortly afterwards, the State of Colorado capped it off and the pipe from which water flowed out of it for decades was stilled.

The trains on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad still run almost daily in the summertime and Ger said, “I really enjoyed that, Dad. I’ve got to do that again.”

As we talked, we moved through the crowd. It seemed larger than last year when I swore half of Greeley turned out to see it. This year it looked as if the other half turned out as well. I found myself jockeying for places to get good pictures from (I’m still not all that happy with them, especially the video).

But I found myself talking with a gentleman who was about my age. We got on the subject of the movie Polar Express. He told me a few things about the movie I didn’t know. The author of the book, Chris Van Allsburg, was from Grand Rapids, Michigan. That was this man’s hometown as well and no, he’d never met Mr. Allsburg. I’ve never read the book (maybe I should), but he told me in the movie the street and store names are all correct and Grand Rapids inspired the town.

But then he went on to tell me about how when he was younger, he and his friends would ditch school and hop a freight and ride off somewhere as if they were a group of dusty hobos. They would then spend the day wherever they went and would then catch a freight headed back to Grand Rapids.

“That worked really well,” he said, “Till the day it didn’t. We couldn’t catch a freight back.”

He recalled calling his father with the problem. “Dad was livid and said ‘you got yourself into this. Now get yourself out.’

“How?” I asked.

” ‘Go to the highway and stick out your thumb!’ ”

He laughed at the memory and said, “We were mighty tired and hungry by the time we got back. My friends got a good spanking from their dads. Mine acted like nothing had ever happened. But, I learned my lesson and my hobo wannabe days were over.”

After a few minutes, police and event security began pushing people away from the train. They wanted us at least twenty-five feet away from it. The train was leaving, and we waited. When it started moving, it did so at walking speed. But before long, it was gone.

But this is much more than a story of a train.

It’s about three guys, myself, my son, and my grandson being together. 4014 simply framed the event.

I don’t get to hang with my boy nearly enough. he works to oilfields as a supervisor and seems to be out working more than he should be. The minutes we get together are precious. He and I have some of the same miles and interests and it’s always fun to just to sit and talk.

And since graduation from college, my grandson Austin has been a sound tech for Disney Cruise Line’s. He’s been all over the world with them and when we do see him, he’s here for maybe a month and then gone again. I hadn’t had much of chance really speak to him. So, when he came to the house before we left for the train, I looked in his eyes and was astonished by what I saw. Those weren’t the eyes of the adolescent I’d known. Somewhere on all the ships and the different places he’s been, my grandson became a man. There was steel and confidence there now and I told him so.

It was also about having a meal together.

My Son Gerald is a like me. He likes a good cheeseburger and is of the opinion you find the best at the non-franchise places. We’re firm believers in supporting the mom-and-pop places, especially since they seem to be a dying breed. In the last six months, we’ve lost three such restaurants that were family owned here in Greeley. We’ll do everything we can to help keep peoples dreams alive.

He did a quick search and found a little place called Jenny’s Malt Shop. With the train gone, we went over and had lunch.

Walking into Jenny’s was a little like walking through a time warp and into the 50s and 60s malt shops. It wasn’t big. The decor was retro in the extreme. About the only thing missing was a jukebox with the Fonz leaning against.

But Jenny’s wasn’t some designer outfit that had set out to just look the era. The feel was of a place that had been open way back then and had fed generations of students, locals, and people just passing through. I’d later learn it wasn’t that old, but they did a great job making it feel that way.

Everything they offered was on a board of the type found in restaurants like those in the 60s. I ordered a cheeseburger (couldn’t do fries – regular potatoes do wonders for my blood sugar).

We sat down and waited. While we waited, Austin told us about “Swimming” across the equator. When his ship came close to it, King Triton and his court came aboard and demanded Polliwogs (term for those who have never been south of the equator by sea) that they must swim across. So, he and the other polliwogs were made to jump in the swimming pool and swim to the other side as the ship crossed the line. My Grandson is now a full-fledged shellback and is getting a Tat to commemorate the event.

When they served us, the burgers came in a basket just like the old days. It was a cheeseburger at its most basic. A bun, a patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. There was no designer anything about the burger. No mushrooms, no special sauce; just good old American eats.

I put my condiments on, took a bite, and closed my eyes. It was amazing. I found myself swept away to the hamburger joints I’d known as a kid. To Kelso’s Tip-Top Drive-In that was built inside an old caboose. To the Hamburger Inn that was the go-to eat place when I was a kid and later in college. And to the Romeo Lunch which up to this point, had served the gold standard cheeseburger that I measured all cheeseburgers against.

The patty was grilled to perfection and perfectly seasoned. And what’s better, it tasted like a hamburger someone had taken the time to turn out by hand and into a patty. Everything about the burger screamed fresh.

I found myself thinking, “At last. A cheeseburger worth eating.”

I’ll be taking Julie there. When I do, blood sugar be damned. I’ll have fries and a vanilla shake with that burger like God intended.