Products that commemorate the 150th anniversary of the (USA) Transcontintental Railroad
tj_1ca9500b
Posts: 2,048
So, On May 10th, 1869 (149 years ago today), the first USA Transcontinental Railroad line was completed.
Of course, Union Pacific has big plans for the 150th Anniversary next year. Among other things, they are racing to get restoration of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy (#4014) currently in their shop at Cheyenne WY completed in time for the celebratory events in Ogden, UT.
They made an official announcement to that effect today.
I've been following the progress reports on the Big Boy restoration over the last couple of years, and I am confident that they'll have the Big Boy ready on time. They recently sidelined #3985 (a Challenger), another locomotive which is part of their historic fleet, to focus on the Big Boy. Once the Big Boy's restoration is complete, the Challenger (4-6-6-4) will be on the roster for a complete teardown and rebuild (as they are doing with the Big Boy now). The current plan is for #3985 to return to excursion service in 2021 or 2022. But y'all probably care about the period 4-4-0 locomotives, specifically the Jupiter and the 119...
There are already two replica locomotives in operation at the historic site in Promontory, UT. I'm sure they'll gussie up the paint and break out the armor-all wax on those just for the event. Note that they are already regularly maintained and used in demonstrations daily throughout during the warmer months. Yes, they were open to commemorate the anniversary today.
https://www.nps.gov/gosp/planyourvisit/hours.htm
Dunno if their recently sidelined DDA40X Centennial locomotive which is also part of their historic fleet will also be included in some fashion, but the Ogden Station already has one of those on static display.. I'm guessing not (restoration team is focused on the Big Boy), but the DDA40X's were impressive diesel locomotives for their time.
Anyways, it might be fun to see some new products in the Daz store in around a year's time (sooner is good too) to commemorate the event. Sure there are various models around the net, but having new or newly converted 4-4-0 models in .duf format, done with the proper paint schemes with the Iray treatment, well that would be sweet.
There's the Steampunk Railray 2 train set (availalbe elsewhere) for Poser/Daz that has a 4-4-0 locomotive in it, but it's not done up as either the Jupiter or the 119. The 119 has a different exhaust stack arrangement as well.
I found a Big Boy model in collada (.dae) format elsewhere, but it is invisible inside of daz, and has no surface optons.... yeah a Poser/Daz native Big Boy model would also be nice. But the Big Boy is more of a sidenote that ties in with UP history, not with the actual completion of the Transcontinental Raiload line. Same for the DDA40X...
Anyways, back to the 150th Anniversary. This could be a great excuse for some period clothing, railroad worker poses, appropriate train models with the correct paint schemes,, yeah lots of possibilities here. Old west themed stuff could be included in any associated sale.
There's a year to go until the big event, so if you are a PA that might be interested in commemorating such an event with related products, well I'm looking forward to seeing what y'all might come up with! I'd love to see Daz sales team doing a nod to this upcoming anniversary!
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Comments
I second this, and additionally, more N. American rail pieces in general. There are a number of European modelers out there, but very little for this side of the pond.
I would also like some old north american trains for my western renders.
Where do you find them?
Just a quick note.
The 4-8-4-8 Big Boy #4014 moved out of the Cheyenne WY shop under her own power yesterday...
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/05/02-big-boy-moves-outside-of-shop
She's now the largest currently OPERATIONAL steam locomotive built.
The 150th Anniversary event is scheduled for next week, and the Big Boy is supposed to make an appearance (assuming no issues), so you Daz SLC employees might be interested in taking a trip to Ogden or even to the Golden Spike commemorative site up near Brigham City next week...
That's awesome. I love the steam and early diesel locos. It's a shame that railroading props never really took off in 3d land, but I guess there's not that much demand for them. I'd love to build a 3d set because I don't have enough money / space for a real model railroad.