To Roseville With the Big Boy
Jul. 14th, 2024 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeThe UP "Big Boy" locomotive traveled from Portola to Roseville via Oroville and the former Western Pacific line last Thursday, much to the dismay of people who assumed it would travel between Marysville and Roseville over the former Southern Pacific route and thus missed out on action shots. At Roseville, a two-day celebration was held on Friday and Saturday, and Lisa and I did a 300-mile day trip to Roseville on Saturday to see the circus.
A huge crowd descended upon Roseville, which had organized much more than just a steam show. There were food trucks, childrens activities, open museums, and much more downtown. It was very crowded. When we arrived about 90 minutes after the official opening, it took us more than 30 minutes just to make it to the entrance of the main parking garage, which fortunately did still have space available so we could park in relative shade.
It was cooler on Saturday than it had been on Friday, and an overcast helped a lot. I wore lots of sunscreen, but as usual, I burned easily. The organizers had many tubs with free bottles of water. More than once I plunged my arms into the ice-filled tubs hoping that it would cool down my overheated body.
The Big Boy was of course the star of the show.
This sign gave you the rundown on the Big Boy's big facts. It is a monstrously huge locomotive.
However, I was also interested in UP 1983, the Western Pacific heritage diesel unit. This is one of a series of diesel locomotives that Union Pacific has painted in schemes inspired by the various railroads that they have merged over the years. As I've already mentioned, the Big Boy carries a diesel along mainly for the use of its regenerative braking, although it can be used as backup power if necessary. In general, I don't think the extra pushing power is needed, for the Big Boy was built specifically to haul heavy loads.
The newly-built freight cars that the Big Boy hauled west were swapped out with members of the Union Pacific heritage business car fleet. Both the freight and passenger cars are needed for their braking power behind the locomotive. Also, the following day there would be a sold-out passenger trip from Roseville to Sparks. I heard that the cheapest seats on the train cost $800.
There was a huge queue for the Union Pacific Experience display car.
Lisa and I were not up to standing in line for hours to see the exhibits.
When the overcast started to break up, Lisa and I concluded that it was time to start heading back to the van. Our path took us past Railroad Hobbies, which was doing a land-office business, including some from us.
We had a look through the food trucks, but the food seemed too complicated for our heat-addled stomachs, so we trudged back to the parking garage and left, having spent around two hours (not including the original slog into the garage) in Roseville. Fortunately, I know enough of the city that I was able to get out of town faster than I got into town.
After leaving Roseville, we drove to Auburn, where we stopped at the Raley's grocery store where we have stopped before. I bought a 12-inch salami sandwich and a jug of lemonade. Lisa also got stuff including cold drinks. (We'd brought lots with us in the 12V refrigerator but drank most of them on the way down. It was still very hot and very dry, even though not as bad as the previous week.) As Lisa drove back toward home, I inhaled half of the sandwich and all of the lemonade and felt much better, as the sun was really getting to me.
We passed through Colfax, where we had considered laying up should we find ourselves too worn out to make it home. We'd packed a minimal kit for an overnight stay should we have needed to do so, but we decided that we should be able to make it home today.
At Blue Canyon, Lisa and I swapped and I drove us the rest of the way home. We stopped at Donner Summit Rest Area, which in our opinion has been ruined by fences that keep people from accessing the picnic areas and trails that used to be available here. We also made another stop in Reno for a rest break and more cold drinks, but our eyes were firmly set on getting home, which we did before about 6 PM.
That was a very tiring day, especially as we're still not fully recovered from the Westercon trip, but I'm glad we made it. We fell into bed without having to worry about alarms, because the next step of the Big Boy's journey wasn't scheduled to be in the Reno area until around 5 PM.
A huge crowd descended upon Roseville, which had organized much more than just a steam show. There were food trucks, childrens activities, open museums, and much more downtown. It was very crowded. When we arrived about 90 minutes after the official opening, it took us more than 30 minutes just to make it to the entrance of the main parking garage, which fortunately did still have space available so we could park in relative shade.
It was cooler on Saturday than it had been on Friday, and an overcast helped a lot. I wore lots of sunscreen, but as usual, I burned easily. The organizers had many tubs with free bottles of water. More than once I plunged my arms into the ice-filled tubs hoping that it would cool down my overheated body.
The Big Boy was of course the star of the show.
This sign gave you the rundown on the Big Boy's big facts. It is a monstrously huge locomotive.
However, I was also interested in UP 1983, the Western Pacific heritage diesel unit. This is one of a series of diesel locomotives that Union Pacific has painted in schemes inspired by the various railroads that they have merged over the years. As I've already mentioned, the Big Boy carries a diesel along mainly for the use of its regenerative braking, although it can be used as backup power if necessary. In general, I don't think the extra pushing power is needed, for the Big Boy was built specifically to haul heavy loads.
The newly-built freight cars that the Big Boy hauled west were swapped out with members of the Union Pacific heritage business car fleet. Both the freight and passenger cars are needed for their braking power behind the locomotive. Also, the following day there would be a sold-out passenger trip from Roseville to Sparks. I heard that the cheapest seats on the train cost $800.
There was a huge queue for the Union Pacific Experience display car.
Lisa and I were not up to standing in line for hours to see the exhibits.
When the overcast started to break up, Lisa and I concluded that it was time to start heading back to the van. Our path took us past Railroad Hobbies, which was doing a land-office business, including some from us.
We had a look through the food trucks, but the food seemed too complicated for our heat-addled stomachs, so we trudged back to the parking garage and left, having spent around two hours (not including the original slog into the garage) in Roseville. Fortunately, I know enough of the city that I was able to get out of town faster than I got into town.
After leaving Roseville, we drove to Auburn, where we stopped at the Raley's grocery store where we have stopped before. I bought a 12-inch salami sandwich and a jug of lemonade. Lisa also got stuff including cold drinks. (We'd brought lots with us in the 12V refrigerator but drank most of them on the way down. It was still very hot and very dry, even though not as bad as the previous week.) As Lisa drove back toward home, I inhaled half of the sandwich and all of the lemonade and felt much better, as the sun was really getting to me.
We passed through Colfax, where we had considered laying up should we find ourselves too worn out to make it home. We'd packed a minimal kit for an overnight stay should we have needed to do so, but we decided that we should be able to make it home today.
At Blue Canyon, Lisa and I swapped and I drove us the rest of the way home. We stopped at Donner Summit Rest Area, which in our opinion has been ruined by fences that keep people from accessing the picnic areas and trails that used to be available here. We also made another stop in Reno for a rest break and more cold drinks, but our eyes were firmly set on getting home, which we did before about 6 PM.
That was a very tiring day, especially as we're still not fully recovered from the Westercon trip, but I'm glad we made it. We fell into bed without having to worry about alarms, because the next step of the Big Boy's journey wasn't scheduled to be in the Reno area until around 5 PM.
