UP 4014 Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive

[@Terry.Wolfe.Photography]

Very nicely done.

[@2quintly]

Now that's REAL American ! ! !

[@bobmeder7194]

It is NOT “X4014”. The locomotive is UP 4014. Back in the days when she ran, the number boards were for the scheduled train number, so employees could look at a schedule and know what train was passing, something that was critical for safety. “Extra”, or non-scheduled trains, were identified as such by their lead locomotives and were noted as “running extra” on train line-ups, which is a list of trains running on a particular segment of track communicated to employees in the field (something that continues to this day), train orders (a paper method of controlling train movement prior to today’s highly reliable radio systems) and so on.