One For The Guys, One For The Gals

Ever since going to see Big Boy in Utah, I've been following his travels around the U.S.  Originally I didn't pay that much attention.  Yes I love steam trains, but mostly when I can ride them.  Here's the first Big Boy behemoth (number 4000) off the line at Alco (American Locomotive Company) in New York.

Originally with their coal fired engines, they weighed in the neighborhood of 1,250,000 pounds.  They were supposed to be called the Wasatch line of engines, but someone in the plant wrote BIG BOY on the front of the boiler and the name stuck.

I wish I had spent more time in Utah sneaking around at night getting images.  This has turned out to be the biggest advertisement program in the history of the U.S. as Number 4014 travels across the United States on those Union Pacific rails sturdy enough to carry it.  Think about it ... some of those bridges are over one hundred years old!

It takes with it several extra cars with things like a break room for the crew who have been on the road for over 2 months, a machine shop, extra parts and pieces shop and a diesel to provide dynamic braking.  They've been traveling at about 50 mph top speed, except when they come to turns like this one.

It's such a sharp curve, they actually greased the rails and walked her around inch by inch.  You can see the articulation here ... the boiler is pointing straight ahead while the undercarriage (with the headlight) is following the rails.  

What a whirlwind tour this amazing piece of machinery has made all the way to Chicago.  It's now on it's way back to Cheyenne Wyoming for a rest.  At this point, no one knows what Union Pacific's plans are.  I can tell you from keeping up with Union Pacific's Official Steam Club, this is the biggest thing to hit the U.S. in ages.  

Hats off to UP and Ed Dickens, head of their Steam Division who pulled off the biggest thing since peanut butter.  They said he couldn't do it, switch from coal to oil firing and have it back on the rail for the 150th Transcontinental Railroad Celebration.  

Not only did he do it, but it's the talk of the town.  People actually flew from Japan, Australia, England and around the world, just to see it pass by.  What an amazing feat of engineering and even more amazing it's back on the rails 78 years later!!

On the other hand, this too is an amazing feat of engineering that I'm trying to duplicate.  Not quite as complicated as the Big Boy, it has me in a dither.  I fell in love with it the second I saw it, since it's the perfect size for camera gear.  How hard can that be to sew?  After all, I'm a quilter!!

It took an hour just to pick out the material.  The problem came when the original fabric was no longer available.  Then I discovered the lady who made that one, didn't follow the fabric directions anyway.  Turns out, there are about as many pattern pieces as the Big Boy has.  So many in fact, they give you an 11-1/2 x 14 sheet of tiny labels to cut up so you can keep them straight.

Good grief Charlie Brown!!  After cutting up every piece, I ran short on the foam liners.  ONE HALF INCH short, meaning it was a 45 minutes drive BACK to the quilt store for another piece, not to mention a quarter tank of gas.

Here's the kicker.  The foam should be fusible.  It's not.  That required a 25 minute drive to the lovely town of Green Valley for a can of spray glue, along with another chunk of gas.  This better be the most fabulous bag in the history of bags, since it has now cost me close to $150!!!!

In the meantime, this is Mr. Cooper about 6:30 am, after getting me up in the middle of the night when he got sick.  He slept for about six hours.  I wish I could say the same for me!!