Multi-generational railroad enthusiasts gathered in Morrison, IL, on Tuesday morning, July 30, 2019, standing at the E. Market Street City parking lot facing Morrison True Value Hardware. Others stood opposite, behind the south tracks. Each was blessed with a cool, light breeze and azure skies freckled with fluffy, white clouds. They anticipated a gigantic, Union Pacific Rail Road steam locomotive, No. 4014, that was to roar through Morrison, IL, heading west at track speed.
The engine was built in 1941, to pull massive freight trains across the Wasatch Mountains, in Utah. That task ended in 1959; this Big Boy has not been in service for 70 years.
This summer, the refurbished historic Big Boy steam locomotive began touring the Union Pacific rail system, to commemorate the transcontinental railroad’s sesquicentennial anniversary. The trek is called “The Great Race Across the Midwest,” but No. 4014 is not in competition with other engines.
The schedule of Big Boy’s travel through town was imprecise to begin with and occurred a bit later than expected. Sharon Moore, Morrison, was in phone contact with the daughter of UP Engineer husband, Patrick. He had “the honor to be the Pilot” to ride the locomotive along the Illinois portion of the trek. “He hope[d] to be able to slow down when running through Morrison.” She said Tuesday morning Patrick stated, “We got a late start [from West Chicago, IL.] They added a few cars.”
These might have been passenger cars, because “the families get to ride,” explained Sharon. “Every once in a while the business cars will go through [Morrison.] When the Omaha[, NE,] people head east, they usually come by [train].”
Annabelle Blevins, 11, captured a swift passenger car as it rushed out of focus. Each has a name.
Pilot Patrick Moore (blue shirt) pointed at his wife as the locomotive roared by. Paige Lashelle, 11, took the photograph. Her smartphone was held at such an angle that it appears the Morrison grade has a 30-degree incline.
Blevins photographed the smokey steam engine before her.
Two passengers looked out the south window with the tender behind them.
Surely this magnificent steam engine awed those who saw it thunder along the rails, in the last century. It did so again, on July 30. Big Boy No. 4014 has been a long time coming to Morrison, but it was worth the wait.
James Stepp of Lyndon, IL, supplied this record of the visit.
