Baring illness or some other unexpected calamity, there’s little doubt where Ellsworth’s Marvin Bush will be the morning of Thursday, Nov. 21.

You can expect him to be at the Lincoln Avenue crossing, waiting for the world’s largest steam locomotive to arrive in town.

Bush just may be Ellsworth’s most passionate train enthusiast.

“I’m just a rail fan or a rail nut, as my wife calls me,” Bush said.

And by any standard, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 is special.

The engine is 132 feet long, 11 feet wide and 16 feet 2.5 inches tall. At an astonishing weight of more than 1.2 million pounds, the Big Boy had to be articulated or “hinged” so it could navigate the curves of the railroad tracks.

Bush took photos of the engine several years ago.

“It’s big, no doubt about it” he said. “They were the only steam locomotives to use a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement: 4 wheel leading truck for stability on curves, 2 sets of 8 driving wheels, and a 4 wheel trailing truck to support the firebox. The cost to build one Big Boy in 1941 was $265,000 which was the equivalent to $4,513,993 in 2018.”

Big Boy No. 4014 is one of 25 such models built exclusively for Union Pacific. The giants were built to haul freight between Ogden, Utah and Green River, Wyo. over the Wasatch Mountains. Only eight are still in existence.

“I’ve seen three or four Big Boys on display and two of UP’s other steam engines” Bush said.

Big Boy 4014 was built in November 1941 by American Locomotive Company and was delivered to Union Pacific in December of that year. No. 4014 traveled more than a million miles before being retired in Dec. 1961.

It spent the next 52 years on display at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona, Calif. In 2013 Big Boy was relocated back to Cheyenne, to begin the restoration process in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroads completion, the joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines with the golden spike on May 10, 1869 in Promontory, Utah.

The locomotive left Friday, Sept. 27, from Cheyenne and is expected back in Cheyenne Wednesday, Nov. 27, following its cross country trip.

The schedule calls for the Big Boy to leave Salina Nov. 21 and roll towards Ellsworth, arriving at 9:30 a.m. It is set to depart at 10:15 a.m. — leaving a narrow window for viewing and photos.

You can bet Bush will be there with his camera.

“I’ve got some spots picked out to take pictures,” he said.

His biggest concern is the road construction on Highway K-140 between Ellsworth and Salina. Bush hopes the work doesn’t stop him from getting to where he needs to be with his camera.