Big Boy doing Little work Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Foamer w/glass half full (of beer) wrote: "I
> didn't see the Big Boy and don't know if I ever
> will see it. However, based on much of the
> Internet commentary about the Big Boy trips in
> Wyoming, Utah and the Midwest, many railway
> enthusiasts were thrilled to watch it in action."
>
> All of the video I have seen, with the exception
> of her topping Archer Hill on the first day of
> this series of trips, shows her working a drifting
> throttle. There simply is not enough train to make
> her work much at all. She could handle 8-10 times
> that much tonnage on the prairie. The present
> consist would be child's play for 844, let alone
> 4014.
>
> The excessive, nearly constant whistling has
> gotten tedious as well. It seems like Ed Dickens
> is suspended from the whistle cord to keep himself
> from falling out, as he leans way out the cab
> window like some Hollywood Casey Jones.
>
> You can tell that the hero-worship of the guy has
> completely gone to his head.
>
> Some of the worst of the gushing fanboy silliness
> comes from the so-called "professionals" at Trains
> Magazine.

Nothing you posted refutes my point that many [and note that I said many, not all] "railway enthusiasts were thrilled to watch it in action." You watched videos and didn't like what you saw. Others who were there in person to watch the 4014 had a great time. Their commentary is more convincing than your post.

I have zero interest in whether fans "hero-worship" as you put it or how far he leans out the cab. It is irrelevant to the question of whether or not main line steam is dead.

Yes, the Trains Magazine coverage has been a bit over the top. What media outlet do you feel has been more responsible in its coverage of the Big Bo?