Big Boy No. 4014 and the Orange Blossom Special
Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 is the world’s largest and sole operating 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive. It was built in 1941 to haul massive freight trains across the steep grades of the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming in support of the WWII and post-war freight boom.
Union Pacific restored No. 4014 to operational condition in May 2019 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike ceremony at completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Big Boy No. 4014 passes this way on an annual exhibition tour. It was a wonder to see and hear it close-up shortly after I moved here in 2022.
The Union Pacific Line runs through SE Kansas with a rail station less than 2 miles from my home. Every morning, like clockwork, trains are blowing their whistles at 2:00 AM CT, and making a racket as they disengage/engage their rail cars for the next leg of a journey.
Another local classic across the Oklahoma state line is Jana Jae. Jana Jae is an American country-western and bluegrass fiddler known as the “Queen of Country Fiddle”, famous for her signature blue fiddle. She began playing the violin at age two and a half on an 1/8-size instrument. Her parents were violin students at the Juilliard School, and her maternal grandfather was a traditional country fiddler.
“Orange Blossom Special” is a 1938 bluegrass fiddle standard written by Ervin T. Rouse that serves as Jana Jae’s signature career-launching showpiece. I was lucky to attend one of her performances years ago in Oklahoma. She played the song moving the fiddle across the bow held by an audience member that she’d called to the stage.
