UP 4014 "Big Boy" to be in the Oshkosh "area" during Airventure

[SteveCostello]

So, I'm sure that the Venn diagram of people that attend Oshkosh and people that are interested in railroading has a fairly decent intersection. As such, I figure that some of the population here would like to hear that UP's 4014, or Big Boy, will be fairly close to Oshkosh while we are all there. The closest it gets will be Thursday morning, in Friesland, WI, a bit more than an hour away. It will be there between 9:45am and 10:30am.

If that timing derails your plans :P, then it will be in West Chicago from Friday around 2:30pm through the Monday after Oshkosh.
skipped a word

I've seen a static Big Boy (we have one here in St. Louis at the Transportation Museum... if you haven't been, it's a TREAT). So I will *likely* try to head out Thursday morning and check it out in Friesland. Because I've just GOT to see this thing in motion.

Any takers for a road trip?

[SteveCostello]

I should probably add for those not in the know... the Big Boy series of locomotives were the largest and heaviest steam locomotives ever built (133 feet, and 1.2M pounds). Only 25 were built, only 8 survive, and none were operational between 1961 and just a few months ago. The UP acquired one from a museum and spent over two years and Lord knows how much money restoring it. The fact that a Big Boy is running right now is nothing short of absolutely remarkable.

http://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/@corprel/documents/digitalmedia/img_up_big-boy-4014-right_mr.jpg

[Mark17]

That’s awesome Steve! Thanks for sharing! My dad is a huge fan of trains and this will make for a perfect side bar for him to see! We’ll definitely head up and check it out!

[skyranger]

One of the eight survivors is in the Green Bay train museum . I can't wait to see it and hear it run .