Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
The Union Pacific "Big Boy" belches steam and exhaust as the afternoon storm darkens the western sky Monday. The Big Boy is on a tour of the region in celebration of 150 years since the TransContinental Railroad was completed.
The highway was cluttered with fans, photographers, the curious and train enthusiasts as history repeated itself Monday afternoon.
With the fanfare of an old-time steam locomotive belching steam and black smoke from coal, the Union Pacific celebrated the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad 150 years later.
The Union Pacific's Big Bog steam locomotive No. 4014 made its stop in Sidney as part of a system-wide tour in celebration of the transcontinental railroad's 150th anniversary. The tour started in Cheyenne, Wyo., at the Union Pacific Steam Stop. Scheduled stops include the Pine Bluffs, Wyo., Main Street crossing mid-morning, followed by a stop at 10th and Hickory Streets in Sidney. The Big Boy then left Sidney Tuesday morning, destined for Julesburg, Colo., and then to Ogallala, North Platte,Lexington, Gibbon, Grand Island (no public access), Central City, Columbus, Fremont and Omaha for Omaha Railroad Days.
From Omaha, the Big Boy will continue east into Iowa, then Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
It is scheduled to pass through Sidney again on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
The Union Pacific was founded in July 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act.
Western Nebraska's role in the expansion of the railroad came about with the desire to line the majority of the country's population east of the Missouri River with the draw of the undeveloped West in the mid-1900s. The state became a key part of the routes east and west from the population centers to the gold fields and beyond. The essential elements for a rail line joining east and west were already in place when surveyors, Congress and President Lincoln agreed upon a route for the first Transcontinental Railroad.
The Central Pacific Railroad was built with an estimated 50,000 Chinese laborers from the west and the Union Pacific work was done mainly with the labor of Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans, according to history.com. The Central Pacific Railroad Company started from Sacramento, Calif., and moved east while the Union Pacific built to the west from near the Iowa-Nebraska border.
The first Big Boy was delivered in 1941. The Union Pacific commissioned 25 Big Boys built. The locomotives weighed in at a little more than 1 million pounds and measured about 132 feet long. Their size required the Big Boys be "hinged" so they could pass through curves. The Big Boy locomotives normally operated between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyo., according to the Union Pacific website.
Big Boy No. 4114, the engine that entertained Sidney residents Monday afternoon, was retired from service in 1961 after more than 1 million miles and 20 years of service. It has the capacity of 24,000 gallons of water and 56,000 pounds of coal. The Union Pacific reacquired the 4014 in 2013 from RailGiants Museum in Pomona, Calif. It was returned to Cheyenne where a multi-year restoration process began.
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