Page 21 - NMRA Roundhouse September-October 2019

#4014 leads the special through Leroy photo Martin Ford
UP chap got on the radio and asked Ed Dickens to bring #4014 to the ceremony. After a few minutes the big loco arrived to go ‘pilot-to-pilot’ with #844 and the ceremonial recreating of driving the last spike and that was it - no cheerleaders, ticker tape, fireworks or bunting.
We appreciated that the more formal ceremony would be at Promontory Point the following day, but with limited parking and tickets sold out 12 months ago we had elected not to do that trip. We had in actual fact seen the re-enact- ment days previously and we had seen the big steam engine and thoroughly en- joyed it, so we were in front. Everything else was a bonus. As the crowds dis- persed we made our way to the front of the cordon to take photographs, it was our first real opportunity to see #844, previously she had been shielded by big yellow water tenders making photogra- phy difficult. It’s difficult to understand feeling sorry for something that is mechanical but #844 just seemed to have played a supporting role. She had provided the back-up muscle necessary with the teething problems encountered by #4014, even at the ceremony she had been static albeit in steam - it wasn’t a case of bringing the two engines to- gether from different start points - she had not moved. Hopefully at the next notable celebration Bicentennial! some lessons can be learned from the events of May 2019. Not expecting to see #4014 again this visit, we said farewell and set off for something to eat. Suitably refreshed we meandered through the stalls on our way back to the Frontrun- ner station. The return journey was equally comfortable, and we took the opportunity for a relaxing evening. Would we do it again? Of course!
Martin Ford, Mike Ford, Mike Hewitt, Gerry Howard
patrol and county sheriff vehicles kept the rubber-neckers moving. We were fine - we had a good view - #4014 seemed to be running better than when we had seen her previously.
We headed off to Hill Aerospace Museum. Gerry is interested in aircraft so as part of the balancing of activities we spent some time looking at planes new and old. For the aircraft fan there’s plenty to see with extensive exhibits both outside and inside. Hill Airforce Museum is situated just south of Ogden Utah; it is next to the active airbase of the same name.This museum is a must for the aviation enthusiast. With free admission this is certainly a worth a visit.
9th May - Because of the expectation that Ogden would be busy, and parking would be an issue we decided to use public transport for the journey to Ogden. The tram station UTA Trax was only a couple of blocks away from the hotel so we headed off. As seemed to be case throughout the trip our timing was good, we arrived with sufficient time to purchase the through tickets
all the way to Ogden and back. Not bad for $16.50 for all the three seniors amongst us, Martin had to pay the full $11.00! The journey was over in three stops and we transferred to the UTA Frontrunner Rapid Transit service for the northbound journey to Ogden. The journey was pleasant, comfortable with good visibility from the carriages. It was a pleasant change to view the landscape without needing to concentrate on avoiding other road users. The sta-
tion in Ogden was adjacent to the old station and we followed the signs for the commemorative event. A lot of the surrounding streets had been closed to vehicles so getting about was easy - the city had made the whole event into a giant street party with stalls and other attractions now well established in what would normally be automobile territo-
ry. We passed through security gates, bag checks etc before we were able to gain access to the event site. #844 was simmering outside the depot, the access rail tracks were cordoned off and a stage had been erected on open ground in front of the designated spot where the two engines would meet to recreate the Golden Spike Ceremony.
There was a bit of licence here as we were about 25 miles from Promontory Point which had been disconnected from the main line many years ago, additionally the track curvature was wrong for the engines involved in the day’s proceedings but it was the spirit that mattered and we were there and not watching it on YouTube or some other media channel! The area in front of the stage slowly filled up. There was frequent stack talk between #844 and #4014, which was parked in the yard not too far away. There were SWAT team members on the roof of an adjacent building - we assumed this to be precautionary. At 10:30 am the event got under way, there was the State Governor, CEO of UP and other assorted hangers-on. Also a de- scendant of one of the Chinese labour- ers who worked on the original track laying gangs, and a descendant of UP’s chief mechanical engineer at the time of the original Golden Spike. Eventually a
#4014 and Living Legend #844 pilot to pilot at the ceremony in Ogden photo Mike Ford
September/October 2019 - ROUNDHOUSE 21