Special Agents with class....now that's good. Great impromptu catch!
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FANTASTIC catch, Greg. I just wish someone would rub the (BIG BOY) off on front. It looks like chalk.
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Would make a wonderful Union Pacific Poster or such.
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The chalk writing of Big Boy on the front is actually a great nod to the series history. When the locomotive was being built, it was going to be officially known as the Wasatch after the mountain range it was designed to cross between Ogden and Green River. During the building of the original 4001 at the American Locomotive Company plant in New York, an unknown worker chalked the word Big Boy just as it is duplicated on 4014. Someone in management saw it and decided that it was the more appropriate name for such an great locomotive and so this is why the series is called Big Boy and not the Wasatch. So for a Big Boy buff, such as myself, I was elated to see this chalk mark.
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Excellent! Love the outfits and hats - no denying which country this took place in which more often than not is a phrase on its way out.
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If this was the class engine UP 4000 that had the chalked "big boy" put back on the smokebox door, it would be cool. On 4014 it just looks a bit tacky for my taste. Mr Dickens seems to like his steam to be a bit like a circus, gimmicky. I like them to be all business, as they ran in service. And if I am to REALLY nitpick, you can tell that this is a challenger tender, by the placement of the road name on the tank. On in service 4000's the road name was a bit lower than the number on the cab. Other than that it is a super job!! Now it is time to get busy on 3985.
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The 4014's bunker is for coal. They didn't have enough time to convert the 4014 tender to oil since their steam program has converted to such. That is why they used the tender from the Challenger. The chalk mark looks authentic in my estimation but we all have different opinions on the subject. And these dudes look like Texas Rangers. Didn't know UP had such handsome police people.
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