{"id":34550,"date":"2026-07-15T01:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/?p=34550"},"modified":"2026-07-13T03:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:22:07","slug":"i-hear-the-train-a-comin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/i-hear-the-train-a-comin\/","title":{"rendered":"I hear the train a comin’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Union Pacific\u2019s Big Boy No. 4014, the world\u2019s largest operating steam engine locomotive, is seen during a stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday, July 5, 2026. As part of the celebration for America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the steam engine train was on tour for public display in multiple cities and states across the United States.
(Michelle Gustafson for NPR)<\/p><\/div>\n

Toronto<\/strong>. This year on July 4th our friends down south celebrated 250 years since their \u00a0amazing country was founded. Amongst the many celebrations was the decision by Union Pacific to take its famous Steam Engine number 4014 out and run it across the US.<\/p>\n

Jeff Lunden wrote an article for NPR (National Public Radio – we watch many programs on its sister TV network, PBS) on the train, “the world’s largest operating steam locomotive”.<\/p>\n

Jeff writes, “Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy No. 4014<\/a>\u2013 the world’s largest operating steam locomotive \u2013 has been barnstorming from coast-to-coast<\/a> in a celebration of America’s 250th<\/sup> birthday. Based in Wyoming, the train came east to Philadelphia for the July 4th<\/sup> weekend.<\/p>\n

“On the hottest day of the year \u2013 102 degrees with a heat index that made it feel like 112 \u2013 dozens of people camped out by the side of the tracks at Valley Forge National Historical Park to see the train steam by. Many people brought camp chairs and coolers with water, like John Seibert, who came with a couple of friends from a model railroad club.<\/p>\n

“‘It’s a once-in-a lifetime experience,’ he said, ‘I mean you’re never gonna see it again.’<\/p>\n

“Many in the crowd checked their smartphones to see the progress of the train on an app, as it made its way down the track. And from miles away, you could hear the whistle. Then, the crowd could see the headlights in the distance. Then the Big Boy, 133 feet long and weighing 1.2 million pounds, came barreling past, bells ringing and steam whistle blaring.” …<\/p>\n

To read the entire article, go to https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/07\/11\/nx-s1-5872656\/big-boy-locomotive-steam<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

A big thank you to PHSC Journal editors David and Louise for sending me a link to the wonderful story.<\/p>\n

NB: I thought it would be fitting to use a line by another great American, Johnny Cash as the post title. Johnny’s sings the song called Folsom Prison Blues<\/a> here<\/a>. \u00a0It is the railroad part, not the prison part that suits this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto. This year on July 4th our friends down south celebrated 250 years since their \u00a0amazing country was founded. Amongst the many celebrations was the decision by Union Pacific to take its famous Steam Engine number 4014 out and run … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4787,220,2407],"class_list":["post-34550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activities-other","tag-celebration","tag-photos","tag-train"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34550"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34554,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34550\/revisions\/34554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}