UP Museum Auctioning Big Boy Cab Ride

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is conducting an auction for a cab ride in UP Big Boy 4014.

But it will cost you big bucks. An online report indicated that the bidding has already topped $17,000.

The cab ride will go to the highest bidder with the auction ending at 8 a.m. Central Daylight Time on June 11.

The cab ride will occur on July 3 in Wyoming between Pine Bluff and Cheyenne. It is expected to last 90 minutes.

The winning bidder must make his or her own arrangements for ground transportation to and from the boarding and de-boarding sites

Proceeds of the auction will go to the museum.

The Big Boy is scheduled to depart Cheyenne on June 7 for Omaha, Nebraska, where it will be on display during the NCAA College Baseball World Series.

N&W 611 is Back in Roanoke

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 is back in Roanoke, Virginia, where it was built in May 1950.

The Class J locomotive reached Roanoke last Friday on a trip from the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania.

Owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, the 611 has not been in its hometown since 2019.

Aside from an extended stay at the Strasburg, the 611 also has spent time in Spencer, North Carolina, at the North Carolina Transportation Museum.

The 611 left the Strasburg on May 31. It was towed to Enola Yard near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by a Norfolk Southern diesel.

The steamer was under steam as it traveled to Virginia in the company of an NS diesel locomotive.

On Saturday VMT held a whistle blow and cab tour of the 611.

Museum officials said the locomotive was to be cleaned and prepared for a Federal Railroad Administration annual inspection later this year.

The 611 is expected to be involved in more public events but those have yet to be announced.

In the meantime the “Queen of Steam” will be on public display at VMT.

N&W 611 Ends Activities at Strasburg

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 will be headed home to Virginia soon after ending its activities at the Strasburg Rail Road.

The Class J locomotive pulled excursions over the Memorial Day weekend to conclude a two-year stay in Pennsylvania.

During its time on the Strasburg, shop forces there performed maintenance and inspection chores for the steamer, which was built by N&W in Roanoke, Virginia.

Although no details have been released about the 611’s return to the Virginia Transportation Museum, it presumably will travel over the NS Lurgan District and H Line.

Officials have said discussions are underway about operating the 611 in Virginia.

Steam Sunday: Photo Charter at Cass

Western Maryland No. 6 is shown in two views on May 11, 1985, on the Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia. No. 6 was ;leading a photo charter from Cass to Durbin on the former Chesapeake & Ohio Greenbrier Subdivision, which washed out in November 1985 and is just now being reopened after years of being rebuilt. This actually is the same image with one view showing the full scene and the other being a cropped version of that scene.

Photograph by Paul Woodring

N&W 611 Excursions to run Memorial Day Weekend

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 recently pulled a series of excursions on the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania.

These included 45-minutes trips and an in-cab experience in which participants could ride in the cab of the J-class locomotive and either help fire or operate it as a member of the crew.

Additional in-cab experiences and excursions are planned for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Those will be the final evens involving the 611 at the Strasburg Rail Road before it departs for its home base in Virginia.

The 611 has been in Pennsylvania since 2021. A posting on Facebook said additional announcements about upcoming events involving the locomotive are pending. The 611 is owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

UP Big Boy to Operate to Omaha Next Month

The Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotive will return to operation on June 7 during a trip to Omaha, Nebraska.

The famed 4-8-8-4 locomotive is making the trip, which has been billed as the Home Run Express Tour, in conjunction with the NCAA baseball College World Series, which will be held in Omaha for 11 days between June 15-25.

During the baseball tournament the 4014 will be on display near the ball park hosting the games. UP said the locomotive will make several whistle stops en route from Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the Big Boy is based, to Omaha.

The locomotive will return to Cheyenne on July 3. The planned en route stops include: June 7: Albin and LaGrange, Wyoming, overnight in Gering, Nebraska; June 8: Broadwater and Lemoyne, overnight in North Platte; June 10: Cozad, Kearney and Grand Island; and June 1: Columbus and Fremont.

During the return trip stops are planned as follows: June 29: Fremont, Columbus and Grand Island; June 30: Overton and Gothenburg, overnight in North Platte; July 2: Ogallala and Chappell, overnight in Sidney; July 3: Kimball, Nebraska, and Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.

Steam Saturday: Chessie Steam Special Memory

There is much about this image we don’t know. That includes where it was made and who made it. We just know that the date on the slide is June 1977 and that this is Chessie System No. 2101 pulling a Chessie Steam Special excursion.

We also know that this locomotive is a former Reading T-1 4-8-4 Northern type that pulled the American Freedom Train.

At one time it pulled Iron Horse Rambles excursions for the Reading and today is in the collection of the B&O Railroad Museum. The image is from the collection of Robert Farkas

Steam Saturday: Chessie 614 in Akron

The wayback machine is set to bring back memories of the Chessie Steam Safety Express era. Here we see Chessie System 4-8-4 No. 614 is in Akron on the weekend of June 27-28, 1981. The 614 pulled a roundtrip between Akron and Pittsburgh on Saturday and then made a one-way ferry move to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Excursion to Raise Funds for PRR K-4s Restoration

A Pennsylvania short line railroad plans to run a steam excursion to raise money in support of preservation of a former Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive.

The Everett Railroad will run the hour-long trip on May 6 with its own 2-6-0 steam locomotive No. 11, which for the occasion will carry a PRR three-chime Blue Ribbon whistle.

The proceeds from the excursion will be devoted to efforts by the Railroaders Memorial Museum of Altoona, Pennsylvania, to restore PRR Class K4s steam locomotive No. 1361.

The 4-6-2 No. 1361 was built in the PRR Juniata Shops near Altoona in 1918. The restoration project is expected to cost $2.4 million.

Tickets for the Everett excursion will cost $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for children ages 3-12 and $5 for children under age 3.

The excursion will depart from Hollidaysburg at noon and run to Brookes Mills before returning.

Steam Saturday: Cruising in Mansfield

Here is a favorite of mine that some of you haven’t seen. Nickel Plate Road 765 and Norfolk Southern 8100 (Nickel Plate heritage unit) are leading an eastbound ferry move on NS tracks in Mansfield on Aug. 7, 2012. The 765 is heading to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s “Steam in the Valley 2012.”

Photography by Robert Farkas