The stars aligned on this poster!
About a month before Union Pacific’s Big Boy 2014 made it to Steamtown National Historic Site for a two-week visit, my sister sent me a 2024 video she shot of BB rolling through Elkhorn, Nebraska. It started with her saying, “Oh shit, here it comes!” and then the massive steam engine powered through with that awesome haunting whistle–like it came out of a Time Machine.
That video and quote inspired my letterpress poster. I was so hoping I had the correct letters from my big display font, and yes, I had two Bs! My intent was only to make a handful to give to family since my dad was a UP engineer (based out of Omaha) and to celebrate the visit to Scranton.
I had no idea of the excitement this train was creating coming to the East coast for the first time. Coast to coast trip in celebration of 250 years of the Declaration of Independence. As I followed its progress on Facebook, I realized how excited everyone was to catch a glimpse and how many people were actually chasing the train cross country. And the best part was that it actually was going to pass steps away from my house! I immediately got tickets to see the train at Steamtown–I ended up going 3x!
That same sister and brother-in-law just so happened to be visiting during the Big Boy reunion. We went to Steamtown on the Tuesday when it was super busy and tried to buy shirts, but the line was way too long. So we went back Friday and I brought some posters with me to give to the crew…and lucky me, engineer Ed Dickens was right in front of me and I was able to gift him the posters. I couldn’t have planned it any better!
I went down one more time to Steamtown before 4014 left, specifically to look for some inspiration for a follow up piece–most likely will be screen printed. The 4012 was moved forward so both Big Boys were lined up and the shot from the front is my point of inspiration and will see how this evolves. I’m going to sit on the idea for a bit.
I did end up reprinting the letterpress posters at a smaller size (12″x18″) as I sold out of the original large posters. I have a few left at On&On and at my shop if anyone is still interested.
Big thanks to all those hard working UP crew members who made this possible.
Tribute to my dad, Rex.
