Big Boy 4014

Not much happens in our little town located at crossroads that carry travelers north from Denver to Wyoming or east from Ft. Collins, CO to Nebraska. With a population of--I'm guessing--around 1,500 and with farming the major business here, we refer to Ault as a Unique Little Town with a reputation as a bedroom community, where residents sleep  and work elsewhere, commuting as  my husband and I did for years. There's not much here anymore. Our grocery store is now a place of worship and the most exciting store in town is Blooms and Heirlooms, my favorite antique store and my other favorite store,  Jen's Antique Mall, so when a rare train comes hooting and a hollering through town, we go down to the tracks to see it.

A small crowd gathered between the highway and the railroad track on one of our coldest days of the season  to greet this mammoth 1940s steam engine as chugged through town on its way home to Cheyenne Wyoming. Aptly named, Big Boy weighs 1.2 million tons, is 137 feet long, and boasts a massive 6,000 horsepower. This particular engine was used to push other trains over the steep Sherman Pass in Wyoming. It was restored to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad. This day it was nearing the end of its journey.  You can read more about this train of the past and if you are in Cheyenne, Wyoming, you can go visit it. In fact there are four such engines in other cities, perhaps one near you.

Want more information on Big Boy 4014's trip? Visit this link:
https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm. You can also read more about the engine by visiting this Union Pacific link: https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/4014/index.htm.

I really didn't get very good photos of the train because the camera was slow to focus and the train sped through town.




 Look closely in this photo and you see the entourage of train chasers that probably followed the train across the prairie clear into Wyoming, about a 35 mile drive.

Pure Massive Power

The first major storm of the season left plenty of snow behind which was whipped by the wind and redeposited it in other spots, leaving some bare. We stayed home that Saturday because the ground blizzard had made travel dangerous impossible. 

We indeed did have a white Thanksgiving. Even the little water garden in the front courtyard looked like a winter wonderland sculpture.

 Inside, I keep myself occupied. This is my current project that I will finish tonight, a sweet beanie in patriotic colors that I will donate to our DAR chapter's silent auction to raise funds for the two Native American schools that we support.

When I need a break from chores and crocheting, I've been putting up Christmas decorations in one of the dollhouses, my Texas Farmhouse. I haven't done a thing in real life yet. Have you?

Packages are arriving. I don't think the family that lives here is too worried about porch pirates. 

The outside lights aren't up yet. Look closely and you will the tangled mess on the ladder.

 Thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy your comments.

Linking with Angie for Mosaic Monday.

I hope you join us there.