Author: Jennifer

First thing, we went by the Arch. Parking became a hassle, so I let Dane and the boys go walk around and look at it, while I stayed with our illegally parked car. It was new to them. I was up in the Arch about 20 years ago, so I was fine not getting an up close look again.

The actual Big Boy Exhibit was extremely hot, crowded, and nothing we had not already seen the day prior. The only good thing is we got lucky and snagged a free street parking spot rather than pay $20 to park, like everyone else. They did not even have souvenirs for sale.

After that, we went to the National Museum of Transportation. It was very nice. The boys got the last two T-shirts in their size. We were short one, and a lady in line overheard us talking and showed us one that was out of place. Another stroke of good luck! The shirts said Two Big Boys in One City. They are cool! I am so glad they were able to get those.

Railfans are like cyclists and most serious hobbyist groups. They have their gadgets, like radios to hear the rail yard talk, their own lingo, and, due to their common interest, have a family-like camaraderie.

I met a fellow from Queens, NY. He was at the arch yesterday evening and, as he put it, Ed Dickens (the engineer of the Big Boy) pulled up in the Big Boy for a photo op. He shared his photo with me, and I will put it on here. We also met a lady named Cindy from Nashville, and Ryan shared his video with her.

You cannot help but get excited for everyone here. They are as thrilled to be here as I would be on the Alpe d’Huez watching the Tour de France.

The boys said this trip was the GOAT (greatest of all time). They saw all the class I railways – CSX, Canadian National, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, BNSF, Canadian Pacific, plus Amtrak and some regionals, all on one trip.

You heard seeing the Big Boy described repeatedly as amazing and a once-in-a-lifetime thrill. One more eloquently expressed reaction to the Big Boy trending across social media – “The whistle echoed through town, the earth shook beneath our feet, and the sheer power of this incredible piece of history was absolutely exhilarating. ” Well said! Alas, all good times come to an end.

We head back home in the morning.

We capped the night off by visiting the Union Station Hotel light show. I was really hot and tired most of today and was slack on taking photos, but here are a few.

Click here for todays photos

Today was the day the Big Boy arrived in St. Louis. We traveled west to see it moving. Tomorrow, it will be stationary all day. It was a crazy day! I have included pictures. But the best is a video that Ryan took as we drove alongside the train. It will be after he gets back home before he can post it. But I will include a link when he does. We began the day just looking at tracks around here, so I included a few photos of engines we saw parked. Then we went to a crossing area to wait for the Big Boy. It ended up stopping there, which was not what we wanted. They did that because there were parallel tracks and they needed to let an Amtrak train going the other way by. So we took off to get ahead, then waited in the car so we could travel alongside him. You can see the crowds at the crossing and all along the track where it comes through. It has the loudest horn! Two of the photos below were taken by Ryan. The one where the engineer, Ed Dickens, is looking dead at the camera was taken by Ryan. He also took the one that has the arch sticking above the train. I focused more on driving than photography. I only brought my phone camera, but it has me excited to pull out my good camera and try to get back to doing some quality photography again.

Click to see Chasing the Big Boy photos

St. Louis has an area, Forest Glen Park, that was part of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, which was huge. It is still over 1300 acres and includes a zoo, a history museum, and a very nice art museum. We made quick visits to the history museum and art museum this morning.

You can tell that St. Louis was once a grand city. The downtown area seems empty and not the safest place to be. We have driven through some neighborhoods that you can tell were once home to elegant, stately homes on beautiful, tree-lined streets. Sadly, most are in such disrepair and decay that they are beyond restoration. I looked online and learned this is the second-fastest-declining city in the US. What a stark contrast to Nashville! As much as we all complain about growing pains in TN. A growing economy is definitely best. Seeing this place makes you appreciate what we have in TN.

We met up with Milton and his parents. I had learned about St. Louis-style pizza. According to Wiki, the pizza typically has a thin crust made without yeast, is topped with sweet tomato sauce and Provel cheese, and is cut into squares or rectangles. We ate at a local chain called Imo’s. I like to try new places. It was good…my favorite pizza EVER is still NY by the Slice in Hartsville, SC though!

Then, after an early dinner, we went back to the area of the UP train yard and actually drove on the yard for a bit.

Below is a link to some photos from the day. I also showed a couple from yesterday that I forgot to include yesterday. One of me cleaning the car windows at a gas station. I had to take a picture in honor of my nephew, Andrew. If you ever travel with Andrew, he will make sure your car windows are clean! The other showed some flooding. We did not get the best pic to show, but they had flash flooding yesterday. It was odd because it did not rain for long, but it came down so hard and so fast that the roads were flooding. It was scary at times because we did not know the roads and could not be sure how deep it would get.

Tomorrow, we try to catch the Big Boy Steam train in transit.

Click here to see photos from the day

Today, July 16, we left the house at 5:30 to beat the traffic and head to St. Louis. We are staying in a nice condo downtown. We have a two-bedroom, two-bath. Ryan’s friend, Milton, ended up having a band thing and could not leave. His parents are driving here tomorrow and dropping him off. They have to get back, though

Click to see photos of condo

We are staying close to the city museum. Here are photos from the exterior. I heard it is a great museum. But Dane and Ryan were not sold on it until they saw it.

Click here to see photos of the City Museum

We spent the afternoon exploring where the Big Boy will be on Sunday, and finding other places to see trains. Both the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern come through here. We found both. I drove right on the UP yard which you can see. I think Ryan was worried, but there were no signs saying we could not be there, so I told him the worst thing that could happen is that they tell us to leave. Here are a few photos. Oh, and also one of Dane wearing my hat. He and Ryan both forgot to bring a hat.

Click here for some pics of us chasing trains