The Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 is officially on its way back west, wrapping up its massive coast to coast tour. We caught it coming through Arcadia for a second time, but the experience today was entirely different from our first sighting last month.
The crowds in Arcadia were significantly larger this time around. A big reason for the surge in spectators was the incredible turnout for the scheduled stop in nearby Fostoria. The Big Boy was set up there for an eight hour day of public tours, and the excitement simply exceeded all expectations. With traffic backed up for miles and an overwhelming number of fans arriving, the venue reached maximum capacity and organizers had to make the tough call to close the grounds an hour and a half early to keep everyone safe.
Because so many people were unable to get into the Fostoria event, a massive wave of fans migrated down to Arcadia just to get a glimpse of the locomotive as it rolled out. It made for a packed crossing, but seeing the world’s largest steam engine in action alongside a crowd of that size is an experience of its own.
I just posted the new footage of this westbound trip. Capturing the scale of the crowds alongside the scale of the engine adds a completely different perspective compared to the June video.
Four years is a pretty good run for outdoor wooden trestles, but Mother Nature always gets the final say.
If you remember back to July 2022, that was the first time we installed the elevated section on the Trusty Train Tracks garden railroad. Those original trestles survived the Ohio elements beautifully until a nasty spring wind storm tore through the yard this year. By the time the wind died down, the old bridge was gone and most of the trestle supports were completely taken out.
Every setback is just an excuse for a major upgrade. This spring, I completely rebuilt the elevated section of the garden train, and this time, it is built to last.
The centerpiece of the rebuild is the brand new bridge. I constructed it out of solid oak, and it is an absolute unit. It is so sturdy you could probably ride a bicycle right across it. I might even have to test if it can handle the massive Union Pacific Big Boy. Let me know if you have a G-scale Big Boy that you’ll let me borrow for a test run.
Aside from pure strength, the rebuild fixed a major design flaw from the 2022 version. The old bridge was just a little too narrow, which caused some clearance anxiety with a few of our wider G-scale cars.
As you can see from the photo, that is no longer an issue. The new design leaves plenty of clearance on both sides, ensuring that every train in the fleet can navigate the high line safely, no matter how wide the load.
It took some serious work to recover from the storm, but the elevated line is officially back open for business, better and bolder than before.
The sky did not look promising when we set out this morning. The drive toward Arcadia was met with rain, but the weather man was calling for clearing skies later in the day. Fortunately, the clouds parted just in time. By the time the legendary Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 arrived, the weather was absolutely perfect.
Setting up to capture the perfect aerial shot requires the right conditions, and aside from a little wind, the elements finally cooperated. There is something truly awe-inspiring about seeing the world’s largest operating steam locomotive from above. The sheer size of the train, the deafening blast of the whistle, and the thick plumes of steam billowing into the clear Ohio sky made for an unforgettable scene.
This bird’s-eye view of the Big Boy moving past the gathered crowds at the crossing was a spectacular sight to document. The contrast of the massive black engine and the long line of classic yellow Union Pacific cars against the brightened afternoon landscape created a fantastic visual story. There was even a callout to Norfolk Southern, the supplier of the tracks the Big Boy was using today. Positioned just behind the Big Boy’s water tenders is the striking red Norfolk Southern 1776 “The Bell” locomotive. Bringing up the rear of the consist are three distinctive Norfolk Southern passenger cars and the Marco Polo Norfolk Southern Office Car 30.
Whether you are a train enthusiast or simply appreciate magnificent feats of engineering, seeing this locomotive in action is incredible. Have you had the chance to catch the Big Boy on its tour? You’ll get another chance in July when the Big Boy makes its way back to its home out west.
Thanks to Chad Hirschy for supplying the sound track used with the drone footage. See if you can spot him in the crowd.
Have you ever wanted to sketch out a model railroad layout and immediately test run a train on it? Welcome to the Trusty Browser Railyard. This is a custom built, web based simulator that lets you design track plans and run rolling stock right from your browser.
Laying Down Track – Everything begins in Edit Mode. The menu on the left gives you an entire toolbox of track pieces that snap perfectly to a grid. You can build complex yards using straights, curves of three radii, standard switches, wye switches and double crossovers. If you are building a siding, you can cap it off with a bumper piece.
If you want to finish a continuous circuit but aren’t sure how to make the final geometry work, the “Close Loop” tool will mathematically calculate the exact curve required and draw the connection for you.
Placing Your Rolling Stock – Once your track is down, it is time to bring in the trains. You can place up to ten independent engines on a single layout. Clicking the “Place Car” tool allows you to add rolling stock of any length behind your locomotives.
At the bottom of the screen are the gauges, one for each engine. To control a train, click the gauge or click the engine. If you like keyboard shortcuts, press the number key of the train.
Look closely at the engines. They feature dynamic, indicator lights on the nose. These lights display green for forward, red for reverse, and black when parked. This gives you an immediate visual cue for the throttle status and direction of every engine in your yard without checking the gauges at the bottom.
Running the Yard – Pressing the ‘G’ key switches the interface over to Run Mode. This is where the simulation comes alive.
Using simple keyboard controls, you can throttle your trains forward and backward through five different speed settings. You can click on any switch track to toggle the route in real time while trains are moving. If you need to drop off cars at an industry, press ‘U’ to toggle Uncouple Mode. Clicking on any car will break the consist at that exact point, allowing the engine to pull away while leaving the cars parked.
You do have to watch your speed. The railyard features built in physics. If you route two trains into each other, or if you back into a bumper faster than speed level 1, your train will derail and scatter across the grid.
Navigating Massive Layouts – As your track plans grow to basement empire proportions, the Trusty Browser Railyard gives you the tools to manage the view. You can zoom in and out directly on your mouse cursor to inspect tight switching operations. Clicking and holding the middle mouse wheel lets you smoothly pan across the yard. If you want to see the big picture, simply press the ‘F’ key to instantly fit your entire layout to the screen.
If you lose track of a specific train on a massive layout, just hold CTRL and press the engine number. The camera will instantly snap to center that specific locomotive on your screen.
Saving and Sharing Your Creations – Once you have engineered the perfect switching puzzle or a sprawling mainline, you do not have to lose it when you close your browser. The Trusty Browser Railyard includes a built in layout management system. You can save your track plans directly to your account with custom names so you can reload them anytime. But model railroading is better with friends. When you save a layout, you have the option to make it public. This adds your creation to the community dropdown list, allowing anyone who visits the site to load up your yard, drive your trains, and see your track work firsthand. Don’t worry. Public railyards are ready-only. No one can change your work except you.
Ready to start laying track? Head over to the Trusty Browser Railyard and build your first layout today!
There is something magical about a model train circling a Christmas tree, but space is always the final frontier for enthusiasts. This year, I decided to go “limitless” by moving a holiday project into the digital world using Rolling Line.
After a full year of tweaking, detailing, and testing, I’m thrilled to finally share the video of my completed Christmas layout in Rolling Line.
Why Rolling Line?
For those unfamiliar, Rolling Line is a model train sandbox simulator available on Steam ($16.99). It’s more than just a simulator; it’s a creative powerhouse. Whether you want to run a pre-built route or start from a blank canvas, the software offers:
Total Customization: Every piece of track, tree, and building can be moved or modified.
Massive Scale: You can build anything from a tiny tabletop loop to a sprawling empire.
Immersive Experience: Run it on your PC or jump into VR mode to walk around your layout as if you were 1:87 scale yourself!
Hands-on Control: Hop into the cab of your favorite engine to blow the horn, toggle the lights, and manage the throttle.
A Layout of Epic Proportions
I started this specific Christmas build last January. The layout features six primary tracks. Inside the purple loop, you’ll find a reverse loop, offering a unique feature, but that’s just one of many ways to reverse a train on this setup. The tracks are interconnected in several places, allowing seamless movement of trains between loops. This intricate network of connections gives operators plenty of flexibility in how they can navigate trains across different parts of the layout.
The Christmas trains used in this layout are part of the holiday package included with Rolling Line. While it has that cozy holiday feel, the scale is anything but small. To give you an idea of the size:
The two outer loops in this layout are each more than two miles long. The video shows the trains going 22mph so a lap takes about five and half minutes.
On another layout, one of my main lines takes 30 minutes to complete a single lap at 62 mph. That’s a 31-mile journey through a winter wonderland!
I wish I had the physical room in my house for a layout this size, but that’s the beauty of this hobby—digitally, the only limit is your imagination.
If you would like to test out this Christmas layout, you can download it from the Rolling Line Workshop. Look for the layout called Christmas 2025-12-21.
I’d love to hear what you think of the layout! Are you a fellow virtual conductor, or do you stick to the physical rails?
Mark your calendars! The Trusty Train Tracks Christmas Open House is always the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and this year was our biggest yet! We had a whopping seven trains running inside, plus the beloved garden train. Apologies, the snow beat the video camera outside, but you can still check out the incredible action in the video of the indoor layouts!
On the shelf we have an MTH Railking Christmas Trolley. This train is the only permanent indoor layout at the Trusty Train Tracks household. It’s right by the front door, up on a shelf eight feet in the air. It’s wired to a light switch, making it the first, mandatory stop for the grandkids the second they arrive!
Under the tree is the Dillard’s Holiday Express with several add-on cars. We picked up this G scale set at a train show. Every car has bright lights and moving objects. Our absolute favorite? The ice skater on the third car! He whirls at a dizzying, non-stop pace, a true marvel of engineering (and magnets). The engine has two settings: ‘Fast’ and ‘You Better Hold On!’ The video is recorded at the slower speed.
Listen closely as the Broadway Limited PRR EMD SW7 Switcher roars (thanks to its incredible Paragon 4 sound system!) right through the heart of our Christmas Village. This beautiful engine was a special gift last Christmas.
The big layout in the fun room is 18 feet long and four feet wide. It has three N scale trains plus an O scale train. On top is the 2017 Kato Operation North Pole Christmas train running on the Kato N V2 Single Track Viaduct Set. The upper deck is held up by a set of Lionel FasTrack trestles.
The upper layer crosses the lower layer at three locations, and bridges are installed at each crossing.
The lower level is made using pieces from the Kato V11, V14 and V16 double track sets. The inside lane has an Arnold GG1 (Brunswick Green) pulling five Lima Pennsylvania Railroad Pullman cars. The other features a magnificent pair of Kato E8A diesel engines powering the massive PRR Broadway Limited, a sight to behold with the ten-car set plus the four-car sleeper add-on (that’s 14 cars in all!). Around it all is the last train that grandpa Tom purchased before he passed away. It’s a 2016 Lionel Christmas set with Bluetooth control running on O scale FasTrack. I swapped out the caboose for an MTH Pennsylvania unit.
The layout is on top of four 4×4 and one 2×4 pieces of peg board. Three different tables are under that with layers of foam acting as shims to make the whole thing level. On top of the peg board are two layers of felt cloth from Hobby Lobby.
Here is the layout with just the O scale train. Once this was set up, the N scale was added inside the FasTrack layout.
Challenge Time! For our newer enthusiasts, we’ve set up some fun size comparisons. Find the O scale GG1 and compare it to its tiny N scale twin on the lower level. Or spot the two PRR RS-3s, one G scale and one N scale, and marvel at how the giant G scale engine absolutely dwarfs the miniature N scale version!
https://www.TrustyTrainTracks.com Questions or comments: conductor@trustytraintracks.com
This is the first layout that my grandson, Noah, helped put together. His dad, Jake, helped too. The track itself took about an hour to put together and then we spent another hour putting together the Lego supports that hold everything up.
This is the first layout showing the Kato #10-504-US Pocket Line Series Steeple Cab Electric Locomotive. That’s the little orange engine pushing the snow.
Thanks for the rock, Craig. We will add it to the garden train this spring.
