This is Union Pacific Steam Locomotive # 4012 which resides on the grounds of the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA. It's one of the "Big Boys", a series of Locomotives that were designed for hauling large loads of freight (3600 ton train) over mountains passes in Colorado and Wyoming where the incline was often up to a 1.14% grade. The 25 Big Boys were built in two groups. The first group, called "class 1", were built starting in 1941. They were numbered 4000-4019. The second group, "class 2", were built in 1944. They were numbered 4020-4024. The last revenue freight pulled by a Big Boy was in July of 1959. Most were retired in 1961. The last one was retired in July of 1962. As late as September, 1962, there were still four operational Big Boys at Green River, WY. Most of the Big Boys achieved over a million miles of service during their working life. The overall length of this locomotive is 132 feet, 9-1/4 inches. It was retired by the Union Pacific in February 1962 after logging 1,029,507 miles. The locomotive cost the UP $265,000 when it was built in the 1940s. The train weighs 1,189,500 pounds and was designed to be operated at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.
I could have really used a more interesting sky on this day. You can be assured I will revisit and reshoot this as the weather improves this Spring/Summer.