A steam spitting, time machine from 1941 rolled into Salina on Thursday night.
The steel giant delighted thousands of on-lookers who had gathered to see the locomotive named Big Boy.
Duane and Dee Johnson traveled from their farm near Lindsborg to take in the sights and sounds of the 1.2 million pound giant. Dee tells Ad Astra News as a child she loved the sound of a train passing by her home at night and found comfort in the rumble.
“So every night they’d blow a whistle coming through town. And when I moved away at age 18 I couldn’t sleep!”
After missing a few opportunities to see the big engine in years past, Duane and Dee Johnson came to Salina on Thursday to mingle with the crowd and share some memories of hearing and seeing trains while they were growing up.
The Union Pacific steam locomotive is on its historic cross country trip to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary. Big Boy will spend Friday night in Hays, before heading to Colorado and then home to the UP railyard in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
