'Big Boy' Draws Large Crowd To Johnny Cash's Birthplace

  • SERVICING BIG BOY NO. 4014 - Spectators engulf Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014, the world's largest operating team engine, when it made a "whistle stop" at the Maple Street crossing shortly late Monday morning in Kingsland. In the center of the photo, a service crew with Union Pacific refills the lubricants to the wheel system. Ed Dickens, ebngineer of the train and manager of Union Pacific's Heritage Operations, said Big Boy has to be serviced about every 80 to 100 miles.
    SERVICING BIG BOY NO. 4014 - Spectators engulf Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014, the world's largest operating team engine, when it made a "whistle stop" at the Maple Street crossing shortly late Monday morning in Kingsland. In the center of the photo, a service crew with Union Pacific refills the lubricants to the wheel system. Ed Dickens, ebngineer of the train and manager of Union Pacific's Heritage Operations, said Big Boy has to be serviced about every 80 to 100 miles.
  • (Photo by Marty Bowlin)
    (Photo by Marty Bowlin)
    KINGSLAND - Hundreds of people that included visitors from across Arkansas and other states gathered at the Maple Street railroad crossing in Kingsland late Monday morning to get an up-close look at Union Pacific Railroad's Big Boy No. 4014, the world's largest operating steam locomotive.Big Boy made a 30-minute "whistle stop" in Kingsland, "the birthplace of Johnny Cash" as noted by the railroad, shortly before noon Monday as part of the 2024 Heartland of America tour that carried the historic locomotive through a multi-state tour of the central U.S.The train departed from its base in Cheyenne, Wyo., on Aug. 28, and had made its way through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri before arriving in Arkansas last Friday, Sept. 13. Big Boy made stops in Piggott, Jonesboro, Hickory Ridge, Brinkley and Pine Bluff before making its way to Union Pacific's operations center in North Little Rock for a private Union Pacific event on Sunday, Sept. 15. Big Boy departed from North Little Rock on Monday morning, making its only whistle that day at Kingsland. It was scheduled to stop in Texarkana that evening before traveling through Texas to Houston. After reaching Houston, Big Boy will begin its return journey back to Cheyenne, traveling through Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado before making its final whistle stop on Oct. 23.Ed Dickens, manager of Union Pacific's Heritage Operations, has been throttling Big Boy through its 10-state journey. By the time he arrived at Kingsland Monday, he said he had already covered about 2,300 miles of the nearly 4,100-mile tour.Dickens has been with Union Pacific for 36 years, spending the last 20 years working with the Heritage Operations.While the whistle stops in small towns along the route are a big public relations win for Union Pacific, they are also used for practical purposes.Dickens said a steam locomotive can usually travel about 80 to 100 miles before having to be greased, and a crew ...

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