Chasing Big Boy 4014:

[eja]

Thanks! Sounds more like a bee-line to Philly & back (not really an east "tour").

Might still head up to PA to catch it somewhere.

Make sure you get a good cheese steak on that bee line !

Gosh, I miss them

[Hedron]

Eastern tour schedule has been released.

https://www.up.com/about-us/history/steam/schedule?fbclid=IwY2xjawReVSVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe6i5Vst4FxgTa0LVU5T3nhep9-6o2mqYsSwYvtlSSxq0lGBdyHXBIMMs_dEk_aem_1VOLhBaE-OD80rIxKKatIA


Tickets for the Horsehoe Curve park stop already sold out, so forget about that!

[PJPickard]

I'm curious about the No Public Access stops...to pick one example many probably know, Jim Thorpe. How are they going to prevent the public from viewing the engine? They can close access to coming up right by the engine but there are plenty of places to observe from a distance, even a short distance.

[R L Smith]

Bringing this back up, as it's only a couple of weeks away now.

Strange as it may sound, rather than follow the train I plan to head to a spot and wait for the loco to come to me - just like many photographers did in the steam and early diesel days. (Which, as we know, was because roads weren't great and often there were plenty of trains passing by a mainline location.)

Why? Because on past "chases" of excursions through western NY, I learned that two-lane roads that sort of parallel the railroad and a hoard of railfans trying to get ahead of each other is an unpleasant mix. And with much of the route now "treed in", I have fewer favorite spots to choose from. At the moment I plan to go to Ripley and Westfield on the 9th, and find a spot somewhere around Hornell on the 11th. 

Oh, and since I've planned it this far in advance, the likelihood of rain probably exceeds 99%.   

Any other folks heading that way that week?

Ron

[davefoxx]

Looks like I’ll be within ten miles of 4014 on Sunday, May 31st, but we fly home from Iowa on yep, you guessed it, Sunday morning.  If I had just another twelve hours in Iowa, it’d come to me in Ames.  Oh, well, perhaps I’ll try to see it when it’s headed west out of Philly.

DFF

[Dave V]

I've seen it twice. I understand why it has such a following, but it doesn't do "it" for me. As far as locomotive architecture goes, IMHO its size is really the only thing memorable about it.

My preference would be to have seen K4 #1361 or the new T1 #5550 round The Curve before the Big Boy, but that's because I'm a racist (Pennsy trains for Pennsy tracks!). All that said, it'll be a heck of a show.

[muktown128]

I'm planning to head down to Rochelle next Tuesday to see it. 

[Chris333]

It will be close to me and I have no want to go look. Might go if it was a 0-4-0.

[John]

I've seen the static display model in Kenefik Park (sp) and at Steamtown and was able to "touch" them .. .. they are awesome looking machines .. and mechanical marvels .. As far as live, meh -- but there are plenty of videos to see it in operation .. now, if they were willing to bring it up to the Strasburg line, that would be fun to see

[lock4244]

It'll pass three miles from my house as the crow flies, but I got a decent photo of it last year, so I'm good. While I do like Alco's, I prefer mine to be of the 244, 251, or 539 variety.

[Tristan Ashcroft]

Apparently Gallitzen borough is throwing a tantrum because 4014 is slated to go through the New Portage tunnel in July, not Allegheny Tunnel.  I didn't bother linking to the WJAC video - it is just too whiny.

So that's keeping at least a few folks busy in Cambria County.

[ai5629]

Apparently Gallitzen borough is throwing a tantrum because 4014 is slated to go through the New Portage tunnel in July, not Allegheny Tunnel.  I didn't bother linking to the WJAC video - it is just too whiny.

So that's keeping at least a few folks busy in Cambria County.

Isn’t 4014 going to be going westbound over the mountain?  So it’s going up the slide?  I know NS has done that sort of thing, but I thought it was only short intermodal trains.  If they have two diesels behind 4014 and some passenger cars, they should be fine.  That seems like a really strange move.  The road bridge by AR is going to be crowded.   Thanks.

Jeff

[R L Smith]

Saw it Tuesday in Ripley NY with several hundred of my closest friends.  Did get a nice photo of the engineer (Ed Dickens) leaning out the window while crewmen were doing their thing on the ground. Almost as exciting was catching the WM unit in Westfield a few hours later:




Followed that up with a trip to Cameron, NY (southeast of Hornell) yesterday, by way of Olean. Two of the new-to-WNYP EMDs were outside the shop. 1503 wears a variant of the original Erie-Lackawanna scheme. Then it was off to Cameron, which historically has been one of my favorite railfan spots. Pretty overgrown now though. There were several dozen fans on the bridge; I was one of only two shooting from below it.







Not sure if I will go to Altoona next month or not. Game Day Decision, so to speak...

Ron

[MK]

Crop out that overhang and you have a beautiful picture with the reflection and all.

[wm3798]

Newport on July 8 could be very do-able.  Mid week and not a scheduled stop, so fewer foamers likely to be swarming.  Looks like you'd want to be there at 9 or shortly thereafter.  It won't take long once it departs Enola at 9.



Plus the promise of some suds at the Hard Hat. 


Any takers?  2.5 hours from me, but more convenient to you Baltimorons.  I could also do Mt. Union or Huntingdon in the afternoon since she'll be laying over in Lewistown for an hour.

And I've booked a campsite for Tuesday Night at Ferryboat Campsites about 15 minutes away!



We'll be bringing our new toy!

Lee