Union Pacific
The Big Boy will return to the rails in 2024 for a tour that UP said will celebrate the railroad’s history and connection to communities, and its employees. The tour is expected to reach all four corners of UP’s 23-state network with anticipated stops in Chicago, Ill.; Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston, Tex.; Nampa, Idaho; Portland, Ore.; Roseville, Calif.; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Tour dates and route information will be released next year. In addition to public stops, UP employees and their families will be invited along the route.
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) manufactured 25 Big Boys for UP. The first was delivered in 1941 to haul heavy trains over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyo., on a 1.14% ruling grade; 19 others were delivered the same year and five in 1944. As the story goes, the 4000-class series originally was to have been designated the “Wasatch,” but an unidentified ALCO worker wrote “Big Boy” in chalk on the smokebox of one unit during construction, and that’s the nickname that stuck.
The units saw service until their fires were dropped for the last time in 1961. Eight survived. No. 4014 is the only Big Boy in operation; the other seven are on display in Cheyenne; Denver, Colo.; Frisco, Tex.; Green Bay, Wis.; Omaha, Neb.; Scranton, Pa.; and St. Louis, Mo.
UP reacquired No. 4014 in 2013 from the RailGiants Museum of Pomona, Calif, and set out on a five-year restoration at UP’s Steam Shop. (The locomotive had been in retirement for six decades previously). In 2019, the unit ran in the “Great Race” tours commemorating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion.
“As we move forward at Union Pacific, we remember where we came from; the Big Boy represents the history of Union Pacific and the United States,” UP CEO Jim Vena said. “When No. 4014 comes to town, we will celebrate with the communities where we operate, our employees and their families. Together, we will marvel at how far technology has brought us.”
A nine-page Railway Age article of Oct. 4, 1941 (download below) describes the Big Boy in full technical detail. Also for download: elevation and cross-section technical drawings.
Norfolk Southern
Military.com on Nov. 6 named its Top Veteran Employers for 2024. NS was one of 25 companies earning a spot on the list. Also included were Booz Allen Hamilton, Dominion Energy, Penske Transportation Solutions, and XPO.
What sets these companies apart? “The most important factor is whether a company has a dedicated veteran recruiter or veteran and spouse recruiting team,” writes Jacey Eckhart, Transition Master Coach for Military.com, a news and resource website for military members, veterans and their families. “These recruiters are the invisible heroes of top veteran employment … A company with a dedicated veteran recruiter makes all the difference by opening what we call the ‘military door’ to veteran hiring.”
In this year’s survey, Military.com also “focused on the factors that help a veteran overcome a lack of a civilian professional network, like the dedicated veteran recruiting team, the availability of SkillBridge internships and an easy-to-find contact page on their website,” according to Eckhart. “Nearly all of our top employers offered some kind of SkillBridge internship program, often partnering with organizations like Hiring Our Heroes.”
Eckhart noted that the 2024 list “focused away from some of the largest military contractors that appeared on our 2022 Top Veteran Employers, like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris and BAE Systems. These companies are still excellent veteran employers, known for their continued support and success with veteran hiring. It is also a shift away from companies that have a well-earned reputation for veteran hiring like USAA, Navy Federal Credit Union, Capital One and Verizon.”
