Originally built as a coal burning locomotive, now oil-fired Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive 4014 has just left the Los Angeles Basin and is heading downgrade past the Palm Springs Amtrak Station in a sea of wind turbines. I made my way to this spot after planning it out a few weeks before in a scouting trip. I thought the juxtaposition would be interesting. Behind the 4014 is a contemporary diesel locomotive set to dynamic eight, the maximum amount of dynamic braking it can provide, to help control the descent towards the lowest point on a railroad line in North America later in the day. At 132 feet long weighing 1.2 million pounds, the absolutely massive 4-8-8-4 is dwarfed by the enormous wind turbines that harness the energy of the windy San Gorgonio Pass.
