Hunting the Giant

The last of the giants, the big boy, was traveling through southern Utah today so we had to go and see it.  It was scheduled to be in Milford at 8:30 PM.  I had taken a pie over to KB and Georgia this afternoon and told them about the adventure.  KB asked if he could come and he volunteered to drive his big truck.  I said sure.  Natty had a band concert and the plan was to head out to Milford after that.

Natty opted not to go and went to her friends house.  KB was at our house when we got home around 6:30 and the boys and I jumped in with him.  After a quick stop at the KB Express for drinks we headed to Milford. 

When we got to the train station in Milford we got some sad news.  The Big Boy was way behind schedule.  It wasn't going to be there until midnight.   It was supposedly in Medina and heading to Milford slowly.  Word was they would likely stop in Lund to grease the Big Boy.  KB has fueled up trains all along those tracks for years and knows Southern Utah well.  We decided we would catch it in Lund and off we went through the back roads.  That was its own adventure as we drove by the pig farms.  Fascinating set up and smell.  We almost clipped a calf on the road.  That was a bit crazy.  Eventually we pulled into Lund which was a ghost town.  There was another car parked out there.  It was one of Jack's Bear leaders and her boys one of which, Ben, was one of my 11 year old scouts.  Anyhow, word was it was still 25 miles out and only moving 20 mph.  We waited it out.  We did see a friend a freight train heading south.  It was moving with lots of cars.  That was fun to see up close.  We had another freight train stop in Lund and later learned it had to wait for the Big Boy to clear the track.  There was another freight train that came up from the mines on another track and also had to wait on the Big Boy.  A railroad guy came over and talked to us.  That was neat.  He gave us the details on the delays and how the other trains were delayed because of it. 

Eventually we saw the lights in the distance and slowly the Big Boy made it our way.  It did not stop in Lund but kept on moving.  There was a diesel in front and one in back with a few cars attached in the rear.  The Big Boy passed quickly, the engineer stood there in the cab as if the old giant was under its own power.  What an experience.  We found it.  Awesome.