12 July—South Carolina Trumpublican convert Senator Lindsey Graham died last night, probably from cardiac arrest, having turned 71 on Thursday. Trump will miss him.

I can’t remember anything about the first time I traveled on a train pulled by a steam locomotive, as it was in 1943, during World War II, and I wasn’t much over a year old when my mother, older brother, and I went to Texas with my father, who was an Army medical officer on an indirect route to Europe.

The last time I traveled on a train pulled by a steam locomotive was in 1962, and I remember it well. It was my first time in the UK, when I, as is my wont, made it to King’s Cross railway station in London just in the nick of time (because it was very early in the morning, only 10 o’clock) to catch the Flying Scotsman to Waverley Station in Edinburgh, actually named after the series of Walter Scott’s novels.

Back in the day, the Flying Scotsman wasn’t only the express rail service between London and Edinburgh, but also the steam locomotive that pulled what the Brits call coaches. It was (and still is) what’s known as a Pacific-type locomotive, 4-6-2 in Whyte notation, with four leading wheels, six driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure.

A 4-6-2 Pacific isn’t bad for the Brits on their tight little island, but it’s positively dwarfed by Union Pacific’s 4-8-8-4 behemoth known unsurprisingly as the Big Boy. There were 25 Big Boys built between 1941 and 1944 to haul 100-car, mile-long (plus) freight trains up fairly steep grades unassisted. Eight Big Boys are still around, of which one has been restored and runs for excursions and as a museum.

Big Boy’s unique 4-8-8-4 configuration was dictated by the massive power that necessitated not only the front set of eight driving wheels to be articulated in order to negotiate curves engineered for shorter wheelbases, but a four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves and a four-wheel trailing truck to support a huge firebox. (Like the beloved 4-6-4- Hudson.) The tender also was specialized, with a seven-axle articulated wheelbase and other advanced features.

While Big Boy—Union Pacific 4014—spends most of his time west of the Mississippi, he did come east on this year’s coast-to-coast tour. But, given the limitations and condition of Connecticut’s rail infrastructure, he didn’t venture here.

Here are pictures of the Flying Scotsman and Big Boy. Do they need captions?