Heavy Metal #10624

The Story

In this sunny view, Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy #4012 sits on display in the Steamtown Yard in Scranton, PA. Initially, the Union Pacific Railroad had twenty-five of these huge locomotives built in the mid-1940s, intended to haul trains over the Wasatch Mountains unassisted, which was accomplished. They didn’t get used very long, as it was the time of “dieselization” among the railroads while steam engines were phased out of service. The Union Pacific Big Boy represents the apex of railroad steam power development. Today, this museum piece remains the largest of its kind…#4012 is one of seven of this type of steam engine remaining.

A Big Boy locomotive weighs over a million pounds, with a length of 130-plus feet, and easily lives up to its name when you see one in person.

Location: Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  © Andrew Dierks