What seemed to be thousands of people gathered in Jewett, Texas this past Saturday, November 9th, 2019 for a chance to see the Big Boy Steam Locomotive #4041.
People came from all over for this site; Brownwood, Longview, Magnolia are a few of the Texas cities represented inside the crowd. With, of course, people from the much closer cities of Buffalo, Fairfield, Groesbeck, Mexia, Teague, etc…
As the train drew close the excitement intensified throughout the crowd.
The whistle on this locomotive is so powerful it makes your entire body vibrate.
Once the train was stopped and people were admiring the train; a few children grew so excited that the Railroad Police had to announce for them to, “get out from under the train.”
The 132 foot long locomotive is the last active of twenty-five similarly built locomotives, with seven on display throughout the nation.
The gargantuan locomotive can hold up to 25,000 gallons of water, and 56,000 pounds of coal.
Big Boy #4041 was returned to service to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad.
The locomotive is accompanied by an impressive array of varying from the George Bush 41 Presidential Library and Museum to the Experience the Union Pacific Rail Car.
While the train is no longer in Texas, it will continue to tour through Wednesday, November 27th, 2019.
The schedule is available at https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm in case you missed the train, and feel like a road trip.
