From Trainorders.com
"As Big Boy wraps up its astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime, transcontinental excursion (two transcontinentals, if you count both directions), thanks are due to many who made it possible. A number of postings on Trainorders--some of them passionate, others concessions--have enthusiastically thanked Union Pacific, Ed Dickens, and his entire team. Who would have thought that a big Class 1 railroad in this cut-at-all-costs century would make the investment to reclaim and rebuild the largest steam locomotive on the planet, but Union Pacific did exactly that, spending millions on the project. Many have also given Ed and his team proper credit for bringing 4014 back to life and pulling off this trip. Ed led an exacting and skillful rehabilitation; if you get up close to that locomotive, or crawl inside that boiler, you see fine craftsmanship and elements of sheer beauty, some of them from parts designed and manufactured in the Cheyenne shops. And no one scouts and maps a route with more precision than Ed. He knows that the future of all steam operations rides partly on the safe and successful execution of trips like this.
Recall, though, that none of this would have happened had John J. Gray--a former Western Pacific executive, remarkably successful pioneer in intermodal transportation, and life-long fan of UP steam--not offered to fund the rebuilding of a Big Boy locomotive. Union Pacific wouldn't have thought of it; I know, because I was on the UP senior staff at the time. And I personally delivered John's offer to UP's top management in October 2011. John proposed that, if UP could obtain a Big Boy--and he suggested 4014 in Pomona--John would fund the rebuilding in Cheyenne. John's offer of millions of dollars got UP's attention at the highest level and launched the Big Boy project. With the Promontory celebration coming, UP decided John's idea was a great idea and accepted his offer.
Union Pacific later decided to use its own steam funds, and it deserves full credit for that audacious investment. UP management gave Ed the choice of rebuilding the world's largest steam locomotive or rehabilitating Challenger 3985. (Ed, of course, would have preferred to do both.) Ed decided to tackle the Big Boy project, and he and his team made history with a superb rebuilding of the 4014. But it would never have happened without John going to the top at UP. Ed has often credited John as the "inspiration" for UP's rebuilding of the Big Boy.
Collectively, UP, Ed and team, and John allowed the rest of us to enjoy many amazing years of this great machine in operation. How many of us would have predicted that we would ever see a Big Boy at work again at all, much less pulling its tenders, five big diesels, and more than 20 cars up Horseshoe Curve? Stunning.
John continues to inspire restorations of Union Pacific steam locomotives. In more recent years, he again offered to fund UP steam projects in Cheyenne, but UP instead decided to offer the 3985, the 5511, the Centennial, and several historic railcars to John in order to preserve them. That was not John's preference, but he accepted UP's donation, passing the equipment along to the new Railroading History of Midwest America in Silvis, IL, where major restoration projects are underway today. Once again, none of that would have happened without John Gray's desire to preserve the UP equipment and his willingness to acquire the Silvis facility and provide the initial funding for the restoration work we are all watching (and can help fund). We can have reason to hope that, not too far in the future, the 4014, the 844(?), the Challenger, and the 5511, as well as the in-service Centennial, will all be operating because of Union Pacific's willingness to preserve UP's steam heritage and John Gray's inspiration and commitment."
By
Chuck ·
