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Chasing the Big Boy
Jun. 21st, 2024 10:23 amUnion Pacific is doing a trip (called "Westward Bound") next month with their massive "Big Boy" steam locomotive from its home base in Cheyenne WY out to the West Cost (Roseville CA) and back, following a figure-eight route that will include some "whistle stops" (short stops at publicly-accessible locations and also some display stops.
The schedule is posted at https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm. Note that I would expect that schedule will vanish after the tour and be replaced with their next tour.
Broadly speaking, the outward trip will run from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City via the original Union Pacific route, then follow the former Western Pacific across Utah and Nevada, taking the Feather River Canyon route to Roseville. The return trip will take the former Southern Pacific route over Donner Pass, through Reno/Sparks, going right past our house, then on to Salt Lake City, then taking a side trip up into Idaho before swinging back to the Union Pacific main and back to Cheyenne.
When I first heard about this trip, part of the excitement was that it looked like the Big Boy would be in Salt Lake City during Westercon. However, looking at the detailed schedule, it appears that the outbound layover in Salt Lake City (arriving July 4, departing July 6) will not be open to the public. The train will probably be laid up in Union Pacific's SLC-area yard, and they've clearly stated that people are not to trespass on their property.
Westercon is at the Doubletree Hotel near SLC Airport. Union Pacific's former Western Pacific route runs nearby the hotel. Their westward journey from SLC to Elko NV is Saturday, July 6, but aside from their whistle stop at Wells NV, they have not said when they are leaving SLC, and furthermore, Saturday of Westercon is apt to be very busy for us, so I reckon we won't be able to have a look at the train that day.
The train looks like it will lay up at Elko NV, heading west again on Monday, July 8, and as it happens, Lisa and I will be staying in Elko on Sunday night, heading for home on that Monday morning. (We had scheduled this already, before the steam tour was announced.) When we get to Elko, we will go over near the railroad yard and see if we can see the train from public property. Monday, there are whistle stops scheduled for Carlin and Battle Mountain, and as long as we get moving early, there's a good chance we can see both of these. Furthermore, the route broadly parallels I-80 most of the way to Winnemucca, which is the next layover point, so Monday looks like a good day for "chasing" the train.
While it would be nice to follow the train down the Feather River Canyon, I have to get back to work; however, there's a chance that we can make a day trip to Roseville for the public display on July 13. On Sunday, the tour travels from Roseville to Sparks, and there may be a place where we can get some action shots and video; we're considering places where we can safely do so. Again, Sparks is not a public display stop.
Tuesday, July 16 is our big day in Fernley, as the train travels from Sparks to Winnemucca. Again, they aren't saying when they will leave Sparks, which makes it more challenging for us to set up to "capture" it as it passes our house. We'll have any ear to the radio scanner and plan to be set up early. Their whistle stop at Lovelock, about 70 miles east of Fernley, is scheduled for 1 PM, which gives us some idea of when they are likely to be coming through.
UP usually has a way to roughly track the progress of their travels online, but I do not know how often it updates and how far behind real-time it is. Like Amtrak's Track-your-train map, at best I would expect it to run at least ten minutes behind.
So besides our Westercon trip and our preparation for an ambitious Worldcon trip, we have some railroad excitement coming our way this July.
The schedule is posted at https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm. Note that I would expect that schedule will vanish after the tour and be replaced with their next tour.
Broadly speaking, the outward trip will run from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City via the original Union Pacific route, then follow the former Western Pacific across Utah and Nevada, taking the Feather River Canyon route to Roseville. The return trip will take the former Southern Pacific route over Donner Pass, through Reno/Sparks, going right past our house, then on to Salt Lake City, then taking a side trip up into Idaho before swinging back to the Union Pacific main and back to Cheyenne.
When I first heard about this trip, part of the excitement was that it looked like the Big Boy would be in Salt Lake City during Westercon. However, looking at the detailed schedule, it appears that the outbound layover in Salt Lake City (arriving July 4, departing July 6) will not be open to the public. The train will probably be laid up in Union Pacific's SLC-area yard, and they've clearly stated that people are not to trespass on their property.
Westercon is at the Doubletree Hotel near SLC Airport. Union Pacific's former Western Pacific route runs nearby the hotel. Their westward journey from SLC to Elko NV is Saturday, July 6, but aside from their whistle stop at Wells NV, they have not said when they are leaving SLC, and furthermore, Saturday of Westercon is apt to be very busy for us, so I reckon we won't be able to have a look at the train that day.
The train looks like it will lay up at Elko NV, heading west again on Monday, July 8, and as it happens, Lisa and I will be staying in Elko on Sunday night, heading for home on that Monday morning. (We had scheduled this already, before the steam tour was announced.) When we get to Elko, we will go over near the railroad yard and see if we can see the train from public property. Monday, there are whistle stops scheduled for Carlin and Battle Mountain, and as long as we get moving early, there's a good chance we can see both of these. Furthermore, the route broadly parallels I-80 most of the way to Winnemucca, which is the next layover point, so Monday looks like a good day for "chasing" the train.
While it would be nice to follow the train down the Feather River Canyon, I have to get back to work; however, there's a chance that we can make a day trip to Roseville for the public display on July 13. On Sunday, the tour travels from Roseville to Sparks, and there may be a place where we can get some action shots and video; we're considering places where we can safely do so. Again, Sparks is not a public display stop.
Tuesday, July 16 is our big day in Fernley, as the train travels from Sparks to Winnemucca. Again, they aren't saying when they will leave Sparks, which makes it more challenging for us to set up to "capture" it as it passes our house. We'll have any ear to the radio scanner and plan to be set up early. Their whistle stop at Lovelock, about 70 miles east of Fernley, is scheduled for 1 PM, which gives us some idea of when they are likely to be coming through.
UP usually has a way to roughly track the progress of their travels online, but I do not know how often it updates and how far behind real-time it is. Like Amtrak's Track-your-train map, at best I would expect it to run at least ten minutes behind.
So besides our Westercon trip and our preparation for an ambitious Worldcon trip, we have some railroad excitement coming our way this July.
