AMERICA’S Union Pacific Railroad Company has decided to concentrate its Cheyenne Depot Museum in Wyoming on maintaining ‘Big Boy’ 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 and FEF-3 Class 4-8-4 No. 844 steam locomotives in their present, exceptionally fine running condition and, as a result, other locomotives in the collection are being passed on to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America museum in Silvis, Illinois.
Unlike the UK, one-off locomotive movements in the US are handled by rail rather than road. In preparation for the transfer, the ‘Big Boy’ was steamed on September 14 to test 2-10-2 TTT63 Class steam loco No. 5511 so that it can be prepared for the 800-mile journey. The following day, staff at Cheyenne took the opportunity to line up all five locomotives at their base, an event which is very unlikely ever to be repeated.