By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Hundreds lined the city streets and country roads as the Union Pacific's "Big Boy" 4014 completed its stretch through western Kansas.
Delays plagued the trip Thursday and Friday but did not dampen the spirits of everyone braving the cold to see the 78-year-old steam engine.
"It's awesome," said Hays Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil after the train had stopped for the night in Hays. "It's important to the community, just look around," pointing to the large crowd.
"It's history."
"The only time I have ever seen a locomotive like this has been on TV," said Ellis County Undersheriff Scott Braun. "This is once in a lifetime to see, especially on train tracks."
The trip through Kansas is just a small part of a much larger journey that will take the 4014 all across the U.S. in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad.
The 4014 is the only "Big Boy" currently in operation out of the eight that remain intact from the 25 built in the early 1940s.
It was restored to service for this year's celebration 60 years after completing its last mission.
The "Big Boys" were used on the West Coast to move heavy loads over rough terrain.
Harold Edmonson, Chicago, was in Hays to see the 4014, but unlike the local crowd that gathered around, it was not his first time seeing a "Big Boy" in action.
"I am probably the only one here that has seen them in regular service," he said.
"I first saw these engines in 1955, when I lobbied my parents — I was in high school at the time — into going west to see the 'Big Boys,' " Edmonson said. "In 1958, the only time I played hooky in my life from school, I took three days off from the University of Illinois and took trains to go out to Cheyenne and saw the 'Big Boys' in October when they came back in service for the fall."
He said, even then, the trains were mostly in storage — with only eight running.
That desire to see their favorite engine or train car is something that is common in "railfans" as they travel long distances and wait for long hours to catch a glimpse or snap a photo of a train from history.
Amanda Kyner, Sharon Springs, grew up just blocks away from railroad tracks, has worked in a hotel and diner contracted with the railroad and has seen many railfans pass through over the years.
"As part of my job, I would take the railroaders to the train at the tracks," she said. "So I got to know some of the guys and their trains."
She said she has heard numerous stories of railfans following trains as they traveled, and try to find specific engines.
"A lot of them get into what model of engine it is or freight it is hauling," Kyner said.
The brief look into the history of the trains is a reflection of a personal history.
"I think a lot of it has to do with their dad or their grandfather who used to work on the railroad," Kyner said.
If the amount of people that came out to see the 4014 is any indication, that history must run far and wide.
