Tag Archives: Train

Big Boy Seen — Briefly

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On Tuesday, as part of its tour of the eastern United States, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 was on display in Fostoria, OH. I drove up to see it, but the picture at right is as close as I got. The entrance to the train yard where the locomotive was parked is about 2.5 miles farther on. Note that cars are converging onto the road I’d just left from both the left and the right. As might be expected, other roads leading to the yard from other directions were just as packed.

The announced opening time had been 9:00, and it was now about 9:45. Even though I knew better, I told myself that maybe this was just the buildup of people who had been waiting there since well before 9:00, and that it might thin out later. I turned back into town and treated myself to a $6.99 breakfast special at The American Table. After a leisurely meal, I tried again. This time, I followed a route through downtown, and although I got no closer to Big Boy than I had earlier, I did get the day’s only glimpse of a train. When I turned around this time, I spoke with a policeman directing traffic, who gave me directions to bypass most of the Fostoria traffic and reach Findlay. I asked if he thought things would settle down before day’s end. “Oh, hell no,” was his answer.

Findlay was my destination because that’s where I had reserved a motel room. I was way too early to check in, but finally had some luck and found the Findlay Brewing Company open. I claimed a bar stool and very slowly nursed a nice Irish Red Ale. After checking in and spending a little time at the motel, I returned to the brewery for a salad and a stout.

I had booked the room partly to postpone the nearly three-hour drive home, but also because I hoped to catch the train in motion. Seeing it head west on Wednesday would have been a goal even if I had been successful on Tuesday, but now it was even more important. Honey Joe’s Cafe in Arcadia looked like a good place to start the day. It was, and I had another fine breakfast.

There was a crossing just east of town that I thought might be a good viewing spot, and the fact that several cars were already there when I arrived reinforced that idea. The picture shows just a fraction of the cars that were there when the train came through. We had a couple of hours to wait, but things moved rather quickly after the online tracker indicated that it had left Fostoria. The first local indication that it was near was the passing of several small planes that seemed to be tracking the train and probably filming it. Then smoke from the locomotive could be seen approaching from beyond the trees.

I really don’t know what its speed was, but Big Boy moved to and through the crossing at a pretty good clip.

More than twenty cars made up the train, which meant that the locomotive was well beyond the crossing when the last car rolled out from behind the trees. I was happy to get a look at the Pullman bringing up the rear. Built in 1927, it served Franklin Roosevelt as Governor of New York and then as the President.

Most of the crowd was gone rather quickly. I know that some of those leading the exodus were off to catch the train again at one or more crossings farther west. I waited until all that scrambling was over, then drove into Findlay to take a look at Iron Triangle Park. The park was essentially unreachable yesterday, and my guess is that was probably true for this morning when Big Boy passed through. As I looked around, I heard someone announce that a train was coming, and I spotted its headlight through the group clustered at the fence. Three active rail lines border the park. I’ve read one report claiming that at least 60 trains pass this park every day, and another that claims an average of 100. I know of two that did it on Wednesday.

When I told a friend of my failure to see the parked Big Boy, I noted that the town of Struthers, OH, had around 20,000 people show up to see Big Boy on Sunday when they had expected 5,000. I’d seen a projection of 20,000 at Fostoria, and offered that maybe 100,000 had actually appeared. Turns out that wasn’t far off. It has been reported that 46,000 made their way into the rail yard, and an estimated 46,000 were turned away. Lots of people were disappointed, and I really sympathize with families who drove for hours then waited in line for several more without seeing what they came for. There has been some finger-pointing and attempts to place blame, and I do not doubt that there were things that could have been done better and instances where people could have behaved better. But the majority of what I’ve read indicates that most of the people involved were really doing the best they could. No one should be surprised that dealing with 90,000 people in 90-degree temperatures in a city with a population under 13,000 had a few bumps.

ADDENDUM 19-Jul-2026: Although I didn’t get to see Big Boy 4014 up close while it was on display in Fostoria, I have seen a sibling, Big Boy 4004, on permanent display in Cheyenne, WY.

Subdued Hues

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An advertisement for a steam train in Virginia caught my attention, and the autumn foliage outing it promoted sure looked inviting. However, I couldn’t make any of the train’s scheduled dates work for me. It did get me thinking about autumn rail excursions, though, and I found another steam-powered one that I could fit into my schedule. It was even closer in Ohio. However, it only ran on weekends, and weekend lodging in the area was either unavailable or unaffordable. When I saw that very affordable lodging could be had on Thursdays and that the same route followed by the steam locomotive on weekends was followed by a diesel on Fridays, I decided I could make do with a slightly shallower dive into history. I booked the B&B and the Friday afternoon train.

Rain entered the picture as the outing neared. It started on Wednesday and continued as I headed east on US-50 Thursday morning. I stopped for an excellent breakfast at Sassafras Kitchen & Coffee Bar in Hillsboro, and had a really good burger and some fantastic fries at The Mine Tavern in Nelsonville.

Nelsonville was my destination. I checked into the Tulip Room in the Hyde House, just a couple of blocks from the tavern and not much more than that from the train station. Recent weather predictions had shown the rain ending Thursday night, with Friday being completely dry. I checked one more time before falling asleep and noticed a slight change. My little train ride was scheduled to depart at 1:00 and last for two hours.

The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway station is right next to Rocky Boots headquarters and outlet. I arrived well before departure time and walked over to Rocky Boots to get the picture of the Headless Sheepman that opens this article. It was, after all, Halloween. Note that, although the sky is hardly cloudless, the sun is shining.

All four cars of the train would essentially be full by the time we pulled out, but I was on board early enough to grab photos of them nearly empty. The car with blue seats was built in 1939 for long-distance travel. It was once used on the Cincinnatian, which ran between Cincinnati and Detroit. The other three cars (I rode the middle one) were built in the 1920s and used by commuters in the Chicago area.

Early in the trip, we passed the remaining kilns of the Nelsonville Brick Company. In addition to plain paving bricks, the company made those very popular decorative star bricks. We were also treated to some nice views of the Hocking River. There was no shortage of front and back yards filled with cars in need of attention, but this was the only yard I saw filled with steam engines. Much classier, in my opinion.

The excursion ran almost to Logan, with much of the route actually inside the Wayne National Forest. There were plenty of trees, and some rather scenic views here and there. Red and orange leaves, however, were few and far between.

Railroad employees passed through the cars frequently, helping with windows, seats, and any other issues passengers might have. At the route’s end point, the locomotive moved from one end of the train to the other via a siding. The seats in the commuter cars had reversible backs, and quite a few riders flipped theirs, so they were facing forward as the cars were pulled “backward”. I was not among them.

You may have noticed clouds gathering in some of the previous photographs. No rain fell during the ride or during the short time I was in Nelsonville after it ended. However, by the time we returned to the station, the sky looked like this. As we exited the train, I commented to a lady in line that there had not been much color in the trees along the way. “No,” she said, “not this year. It’s been too dry.” Maybe that’s the reason. I don’t know. If so, the dry spell appears to be over, but any rain now will just knock the leaves from the trees. It won’t make them colorful.