Chaski Railfan

Here is the detailed schedule. I just knew they would stop in Northfield:

https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR3ieyDN3zs7NpdFXT4hCpOh5OcRM6GxElI3q0psDNLRQ5g2W9HUFzWHEco

5/4/19 Pacing video out of Laramie and into Rawlins. https://youtu.be/89F2phsZpi4?t=1 This video, with the sound muted, goes great with the Jackie Wilson tune "Higher And Higher"--well, at least for me. :D Big steam set to good music is very good for your emotional health, my friends.

Union Pacific just announced the schedule: https://www.up.com/media/releases/190613-big-boy-4014-midwest.htm?fbclid=IwAR1IbpBXYRFihoKRNaoD-pVbxIAUj2T1OzN21uzn18IYPsK_T0-unIXCfvA Oh man, this is gonna be something! :D I am going to intercept 4014 at Faribault and follow her into town. Anyone want to ...

I cannot afford to hire a blimp, but I can think of something. Heck, the 3985 did not have crowds everywhere when she visited the Cities in 2008, so why should the 4014 be any different? I would love to first see the 4014 in Faribault, hometown of my good friend and fellow railfan John C. Luecke and...

I am excited to see the Big Boy, but I am also wary of the crowds that will be out to see 4014. What's a railfan gotta do to get a quiet spot to see the Big Boy? Sheesh.
Yes, I am not one for crowds.

Good God Almighty... I hope I have a new(ish) car by then. A Big Boy on the North Shore, land of the Yellowstone? This I have got to see.

Trains says nothing about Skookum's ultimate home, confound them.
Maybe Skookum's owner plans to move the engine from railroad to railroad in the warmer months and keep it at his place in the off season?

You folks will have a Milwaukee Road E-unit on the other end for the June trips, not a T.C.& W. one, so there is that to look forward to.
As for the Big Boy? Oh man, please Uncle Pete, please send her to Gopher Land!

I meant to post this last Friday but had no time until now, so here goes: Francis Bret Harte. 1839–1902 What the Engines Said Opening of the Pacific Railroad WHAT was it the Engines said, Pilots touching,—head to head Facing on the single track, Half a world behind each back? This is what the Engine...

Twin Cities and Western sure is going to net some fine "one-time" revenue from shipments of continuous welded rail for the Southwest LRT. Boy oh boy, will they ever: https://kstp.com/news/rails-for-southtwest-ligh-rail-swlrt-project-arrive-st-louis-park-met-metro-council-/5351514/

,,,when the Union and the Central met today. Happy Golden Spike day, my friends. :D https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/East_and_West_Shaking_hands_at_the_laying_of_last_rail_Union_Pacific_Railroad_-_Restoration.jpg/1009px-East_and_West_Shaking_hands_at_the_laying_of_last_rail_...

Charles, how come there is doubt as to exactly where the golden spikes (yes, there were two, not one, plus a combo silver-gold spike, all driven in a tie of California laurel with holes augerd for ease of driving) were driven?

According to the article I read in Trains , Central Pacific crews used up all the ties they had on hand to finish ten miles of track in one day. Quite amazing. Sadly, Promontory was snipped from the national rail network early in the 20th Century, when the Southern Pacific built the Lucian Cutoff ac...

On this day in 1869, Central Pacific track crews built ten miles of track in one day as the CP headed for its union with the Union Pacific.

But what average John or Jane Q. Railfan has three grand to spare for such an excursion? I sure don't.