Hello and welcome to Thursday, June 11, 2026. It's National Corn on the Cob Day, National German Chocolate Cake Day, Yarn Bombing Day. Kinda like bombing your neighbor's houses with toilet paper, but with yarn. No, I've never done it, and I don't advise it.
1742: Benjamin Franklin invents his Franklin stove (hot item).
1776: Continental Congress appoints a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston as members.
1927: Charles Lindbergh is awarded the 1st Distinguished Flying Cross.
1947: Perennial Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street, starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara and directed by George Seaton, is released.
1963: President John F. Kennedy says segregation is morally wrong and that it is "time to act."
1975: First oil pumped from North Sea oilfield.
1998: Compaq Computer pays $9.6 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation; largest high-tech acquisition at the time.
Birthdays Today Include: Richard Strauss, composer; Jacques Cousteau, French oceanic explorer (Calypso); Vince Lombardi, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach; Gene Wilder, actor (Blazing Saddles; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Silver Streak; Young Frankenstein); Jud Strunk, American singer-songwriter ("Daisy a Day"); Jackie Stewart, Scottish auto racer and broadcaster; Joe Montana, Pro Football HOF quarterback; and Hugh Laurie, actor (House).
If today's your day, Happy Birthday to you.
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By the time you read this, I'll be sitting trackside, about 30 miles south of my house, waiting for Big Boy — Union Pacific's No. 4014, the world's largest operating steam locomotive — to thunder past. Every video I've watched while soaking up information and atmosphere for the updates I’ve written for the VIP section has shown me the same thing: massive crowds, flat-out enormous numbers of people lining the tracks, many having traveled hundreds of miles just to witness the spectacle.
Now, let me back up a bit, in case you've been living under a rock — or if you're not yet a VIP member here. (Seriously, why not? You're missing out on some great stuff!)
Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 tips the scales at nearly 1.1 million pounds and stretches over 130 feet long, making it the world's largest operating steam locomotive.
ALCO brought him to life on December 7, 1941, built to haul military equipment during the war. Of the 25 Big Boys ever built, only eight survive today — and 4014 stands alone as the only one still operating under his own steam. That makes this worth the trip for me. Chances are very high I'll never see it again.
UP and ALCO engineered this magnificent machine to run stable and smooth at 80 miles per hour, hauling enormous loads. You stand next to him and you marvel — truly marvel — that anything this massive can roll that fast. I've seen a Big Boy (4012), most recently at Steamtown in Scranton about a year ago, and that's impressive enough on its own. But watching one in full cry is something else entirely. The spectacle of that alone draws the crowds.
And wow, what a turnout.
Then there’s the rarity. If you live east of the Mississippi, you may never get another chance like this one. Big Boy has never steamed across the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley, or certainly not into my Genesee Valley, since ALCO built her in Schenectady, N.Y., and delivered her to Union Pacific back in 1941— making this trip both a first and, quite possibly, a last.
For plenty of folks, the draw combines equal parts engineering marvel and living history. This locomotive still runs on steam technology that’s 85 years old, and witnessing that in person feels almost surreal.
And then there’s the full sensory experience. A steam locomotive this size produces sounds, smells, ground-shaking vibration, and visual drama that no photo or video can fully capture. People don’t just want to see Big Boy—they want to feel his passage. And trust me, I’ll be feeling every bit of it as he thunders past.
I’ve seen other steam power, of course. I’ve even ridden behind two of them—one on the nearby Arcade & Attica short line, and another on Andy Muller’s Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, his RBMN 425, a smaller but still impressive beast.
A couple of years ago, I caught NKP765 — owned by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society — running over this same stretch of track where I'm sitting now. Now, 765 is a remarkable machine in her own right, and she left a real impression on me. If you get the chance to go see that beast, do it. (I see lots of excursions running out of the Ft Wayne area.) But everyone I've spoken with who has seen Big Boy in person says 4014 takes it to another level entirely.
There’s the show of power, certainly. By some estimates, 6,600 horsepower—that’s a figure even the most powerful diesels can’t match without blowing themselves up. I know, I’ve watched them do it… launching a piston into low Earth orbit is pretty impressive, but it doesn’t move much freight.
For me, though, something deeper runs through this whole event—something I’m honestly struggling to put into words. Certainly, there’s the aspect of the 250 years we’ve been a country. That’s not unlike our 200-year celebration 50 years ago, which I was also around for. And no, contrary to the rumors on the matter, I wasn’t around for the celebrations back in 1876.
I don’t know. Perhaps the passage of time has made me more attuned to the importance of our country and our way of life. Certainly, Big Boy is a fine symbol for all that. Think now: it was there for one of our nation’s biggest struggles and helped us through it. In doing so, it helped us understand what we’re capable of given the right mindset.
I mentioned that ALCO outshopped 4014 on December 7, 1941, and I’m certain that date and its import isn’t lost on you. Big Boy and his huge, powerful brothers played just as vital a role in America’s war effort as any weapon we put in the field — part of a mighty national push that carried us all the way to victory. He stands — and now rolls — as a powerful reminder of something I think we’ve lost sight of over the years, that being what we can accomplish together. We came together to win a war against all odds, and we pulled it off. This machine is a living tribute to that effort, those struggles, and that hard-won success. He’s a reminder of what we can be. That’s a hugely important message today.
Watching him roll across American soil today carries all of that history with him, and that, more than anything else, is what makes this moment worth showing up for.
Thought of the day: I see a lot of people asking if Karmelo Anthony deserves to be in jail. In return, I ask, does Austin Metcalf deserve to be dead?
VIP members, hit the heart and let’s hear your comments!
Take care, my friends. With some luck, I’ll have some videos to share tomorrow. See you then.
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