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City of Nowata

Posted: Nov 14, 2019 3:00 PMUpdated: Nov 14, 2019 4:01 PM

Nowata to Celebrate Union Pacific's 150th Anniversary

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Garrett Giles

The Union Pacific 4014 locomotive will be stopping in the heart of Nowata in the very near future.

Recognizing this big opportunity, Kelly Collins and the Nowata Chamber of Commerce are putting on an afternoon of events for you to partake in. Collins explained that this event is taking place because the Union Pacific is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the "Driving of the Golden Spike" that got the rail systems going. He said the celebration started for UP on Friday, May 10th, 2019, and Nowata gets to be part of that celebration on Saturday, Nov. 16th.

Collins said once the Union Pacific got the UP4014 rail-ready, it started on two additional trips. One trip was to Chicago, Illinois all the way to Minnesota. The other trip was back to the Pomona, California where the train was once static before circling down to Houston.

Now that train is traveling north through Arkansas before getting to Nowata, Oklahoma. The Union Pacific 4014 locomotive will be in Nowata on Saturday, Nov. 16th at approximately 3:00 p.m. Activities will begin at 1:30 p.m. along Cherokee Avenue, and they include reading sessions for the kids, a trackless train and much more. Aside for payments for food, admission to the event is free.

Even the Nowata History Museum located along S. Oak Street just off of Cherokee Avenue will be open. They will have historical displays of Nowata's history with the rail system. Collins said they do an excellent job in presenting what Nowata is all about at the Nowata History Museum, and that it is great to have them on board with Saturday's event.

The Union Pacific has also provided a limited edition book called "Race to Promontory," which celebrates their 150th Anniversary. The UP has only produced 150 of these books, and thanks to Nowata's efforts to welcome them with open arms, the UP has given them one of the copies.

This book will be raffled off and tickets will cost $1 the day of the event. Collins said they are also going to try and get Ed Dickens, the Manager of UP's Steam Program, to sign the book.

From a historic perspective, you can thank President Abraham Lincoln for letting the Union Pacific be what it is today. Locomotives like the UP4014 that are coming to Nowata used to be called “Big Boys.”

There were 25 of these Big Boys that were built for the Union Pacific in 1941. They are 132-feet long and weigh approximately 1.2 million pounds. They are also part of a locomotive called "hinged" or "articulated" locomotives, which means they are so long that the front set of driving wheels and the leading trucks are hinged towards the front center of the train to help them negotiate around tight turns.

With the Big Boys, there are four wheels in the front (or the leading trucks), two sets of driver wheels (eight in all), and four training trucks that support the trains cab. Collins said these long trains would not be able to maneuver on the Union Pacific railways without this articulation. He also said 8 of the 25 Big Boys survived a scrap heap, which includes the one traveling to Nowata. The UP 4014 was actually pulled out of Pomona, California in a static state and was drug all the way back to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The remaining Big Boys are static and not retrofit like the UP 4014. Should you ever want to see one of the remaining Big Boys, you can go to the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, or to Frisco, Texas, Omaha, Nebraska, Denver, Colorado, Scranton, Pennsylvania and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Nowata, Oklahoma also has an extensive history when it comes to the railway system that rips through the town's core.

In the summer of 1889, the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad Company extended its line from Coffeyville, Kansas through Nowata before ending up in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Trains (freight and passenger) were vital to the area, but the last passenger train that passed through Nowata to Claremore was back in March 27th, 1960. The Nowata History Museum notes that approximately 180 people made that final trip from Nowata.

Although the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad Company got things started, Missouri Pacific held the longest time frame with the railway before being acquired by the Union Pacific. That leads us to today, where Nowata still works closely with Union Pacific. And the Union Pacific is closer to Nowata than some might think.

You are invited to be part of the once in a lifetime event in Nowata before the train retires for the day in Coffeyville, Kansas. The UP 4014 will arrive from Van Buren, Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 16th. By the end of its trip, the locomotive may have travelled 4,000 miles and Nowata County gets to be but a fraction of this epic journey in America.


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