UP 4014 - Big Boy around Chicago - Sept 9 2024

On Sept 9, 2024, the Union Pacific "Big Boy" steam engine traveled from Rochelle IL through the Chicago suburbs to Villa Grove IL. I took the opportunity to chase it from West Chicago to Watseka.
My goal for the day was to catch the train 3 or 4 times, but a number of stops during the trip allowed me to get them 10 times, one of my most successful steam chases ever.

The first stop was a curve on the east side of West Chicago. There I caught a pair of Metra commuter trains and then the Big Boy eastbound.

At the Metra stop in Villa Park, an outbound Metra blocked my direct view of the steam train, but fortunately I had already launched my drone.

In Bellwood, the train turned from the UP tracks to head south on the IHB to reach the southern suburbs. I was able to pace the engine briefly with my drone.

There was another large crowd at the busy junction in Blue Island. Based on the usually helpful UP Steam Tracker site, I thought I had time for a pit stop before setting up at Blue Island. I was wrong, but did get kind of a shot there.

Once back on UP rails at Dolton, the train made another stop at Yard Center in South Holland. This allowed me plenty of time to set up for a drone shot on the bridge over 162nd St.

Once the train & I got out of the city, Illinois Rte 1 generally followed the tracks all the way to Watseka, where they were scheduled to stop around 5 pm.

On the way, I stopped in the town of Beecher, where a CSX stack train headed north after the steam special passed. This stretch of tracks is jointly owned by the two railroads.

At Momence, I realized at the last minute that the train had stopped again, so was able to find a spot to launch the drone to get a shot on the Kankakee River bridge, but didn't have time to get to the sunny side.

Between Papineau & Martinton the tracks got close enough to see the train across the corn fields for a minute as I went past.

A few miles north of Watseka, I got one more drone shot across the fields, and then headed into town were to train was stopping. My last shot of the chase was the 4014 headed across the TP&W tracks south of downtown Watseka.