BIG BOY AT LEB STATION

DESIGNED BY OTTO JABELMANN, THE BIG BOY LOCOMOTIVE WAS BUILT BY THE AMERICAN LOCOMOTVE COMPANY (ALCO) IN SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK FOR THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD. THIS MASSIVE POWERHOUSE WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1941 AND 1944 TO HAUL HEAVY FREIGHT OVER THE STEEP GRADES OF THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS. BIG BOY HAULED HEAVY LOADS TO ASSIST IN THE WAR EFFORT OF WWII. THE BIG BOY USED A SIMPLE ARTICULATED TYPE OF WHEEL ARRANGEMENT. A HUGE FRONT FRAME UNDER THE FRONT ENGINE THAT PIVOTS INDEPENDENTLY UNDER A SINGLE MASSIVE BOILER. THIS ARRANGEMENT ALLOWS THE LONG ENGINE TO NEGOTIATE SHARP CURVES AS THE ENGINE PULLED THE MASSIVE LOADS AROUND SHARP MOUNTAIN CURVES.